AI Article Synopsis

  • - Approximately 300,000 people in the U.S. have Chagas disease, mostly acquired in Latin America, prompting a survey of Latin American immigrants in Los Angeles to assess their awareness of the disease.
  • - Out of 2,677 surveyed, 62% had seen triatomine bugs (disease vectors) in Latin America, 27% experienced bites annually, but 86% had never heard of Chagas disease.
  • - Among those aware of Chagas disease, 81% underestimated its seriousness, yet over 95% expressed a desire for testing and treatment, highlighting a significant need for increased awareness in this vulnerable group.

Article Abstract

Approximately 300,000 persons have Chagas disease in the United States, although almost all persons acquired the disease in Latin America. We examined awareness of Chagas disease among Latin American immigrants living in Los Angeles, California. We surveyed 2,677 persons (age range = 18-60 years) in Los Angeles who resided in Latin America for at least six months. A total of 62% of the participants recalled seeing triatomines in Latin America, and 27% of the participants reported triatomine bites at least once per year while living abroad. A total of 86% of the participants had never heard of Chagas disease. Of persons who had heard of Chagas disease, 81% believed that it was not serious. More than 95% of those who had heard of Chagas disease would want to be tested and treated. Most Latin American immigrants living in Los Angeles recalled exposure to vectors of Chagas disease. However, they have little knowledge of this disease. Increasing awareness of Chagas disease is needed in this high-risk population.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4228887PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.14-0305DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

chagas disease
32
los angeles
16
latin american
12
american immigrants
12
immigrants living
12
living los
12
latin america
12
heard chagas
12
disease
9
chagas
8

Similar Publications

Background And Objective: Serological screening for Chagas disease (CD) in Latin American adults living in Europe is a cost-effective strategy for transmission prevention. The World Health Organization recommends two different serological tests including native and recombinant antigens for IgG detection. In Spain, most commercialized native tests require manual processing.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Chagas disease is one of the most important vector-borne diseases in Mexico. Triatoma pallidipennis (Stål) is one of the most epidemiologically important vector species. Despite being classified as a single species, various studies (molecular, morphometric, and biological) on populations across its distribution suggested it is composed of a group of cryptic species.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The high plasticity of cells undergoing epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) promotes increased tumor heterogeneity, and its interaction with tumor-associated stromal cells appears to contribute to developing a stemness phenotype. Cells with these characteristics exhibit increased resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, leading to disease relapse and metastasis. Here, we discuss the activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in promoting EMT and stemness within the context of cellular resistance to these therapies.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We hypothesized that melatonin (Mel) supplementation may offer therapeutic benefits for obesity, particularly in women. Therefore, the study evaluated Mel's effects on white adipose tissue (WAT) in diet-induced obese female mice. Four-week-old C57BL/6 females were assigned to either a control diet (C group) or a high-fat diet (HF group) for 6 weeks (n = 20/group).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Structural heart disease in the tropics: A comprehensive review.

Curr Probl Cardiol

December 2024

Internal Medicine Study Program, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya 60132, Indonesia; Department of Internal Medicine, Dr. Soetomo General Academic Hospital, Surabaya 60286, Indonesia.

Structural heart disease (SHD) remains a significant global health challenge, disproportionately impacting populations in tropical regions where the burden of infectious diseases, limited healthcare infrastructure, and socio-economic disparities exacerbate the issue. The tropics are uniquely affected by conditions such as rheumatic heart disease (RHD), endomyocardial fibrosis, tropical cardiomyopathies, and pericardial diseases, often resulting from or complicated by endemic infections like malaria, dengue, tuberculosis, and parasitic diseases. Moreover, Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Associated Cardiac Disease (HIVAC) represents an emerging concern in regions with high HIV prevalence, adding complexity to the interplay between infectious and structural cardiac conditions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!

A PHP Error was encountered

Severity: Notice

Message: fwrite(): Write of 34 bytes failed with errno=28 No space left on device

Filename: drivers/Session_files_driver.php

Line Number: 272

Backtrace:

A PHP Error was encountered

Severity: Warning

Message: session_write_close(): Failed to write session data using user defined save handler. (session.save_path: /var/lib/php/sessions)

Filename: Unknown

Line Number: 0

Backtrace: