Inquérito soroepidemiológico para infecções por fungos causadores de micoses sistêmicas na Reserva Indígena Xacriabá, Estado de Minas Gerais / Seroepidemiological survey for infections by fungi causing systemic mycoses in the Xacriabá Indian Reserve, Minas Gerais State, Brazil

Xacriabá Indian Reserve is situated in the north of Minas Gerais State, Brazil, near the municipality of Manga and São Francisco River. The Indian population is miscegenated with caucasian and negroid people and have farming activities. Blood samples were collected from 180 inhabitants of the reserve (85 men and 95 women), 15 to 84 years old. Serum antibodies against antigens of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, Histoplasma capsulatum, Cryptococcus neoformans, and Candida albicans were tested for by counterimmunoelectrophoresis method. Seropositivity was verified in 5, 3.9, 4.2, and 6.7, respectively of the 180 samples. Those seropositive for antigens of P. brasiliensis and H. capsulatum were predominantly women and had lower age and more elevated mean titers of antibodies than individuals whose sera reacted with antigens of C. neoformans and C. albicans. The results suggest the occurrence of paracoccidioidomycosis-infection and histoplasmosis-infection in the Xacriabá Indian Reserve, particularly in the first decades of life of the inhabitants.