Geographic distribution of Trypanosoma cruzi genotypes detected in chronic infected people from Argentina. Association with climatic variables and clinical manifestations of Chagas disease.

Chronic Chagas disease affects large number of people in Latin America where it remains one of the biggest public health problems. Trypanosoma cruzi is genetically divided into seven discrete typing units (DTUs), TcI-TcVI and Tcbat, and exhibits differential distribution across vectors, host and transmission cycles. Clinical manifestations (cardiac, digestive and / or neurological) vary according to the geographical region; and the DTUs more frequently found in any of the chronic form of the disease, indeterminate or clinical, are TcI, TcII, TcV and TcVI.