ABSTRACT
Chagas disease is the principal zoonosis of the Province of Jujuy where it represents a major public health problem. In this paper the results of a serological screening of T. cruzi infection carried out in the Province of Jujuy are analyzed to determine the general prevalence, age and geographic distribution, sex ratio, prevalence in foreign population and their relation with migratory process. In every individual (N = 16482) indirect hemagglutination (IHA) and immunofluorescence (TIF) tests have been carried out. In 5879 of them the birth place in the territory of the Province and the number of foreign individuals (313, all Bolivians) were confirmed. Based on these data the individuals were grouped according to: a) the four geographical regions of the Province located at different altitude levels, Puna, Quebrada, Valle and Ramal; b) towns placed on or away from the main routes of communication of the Province. For the statistical analysis the X2 and Z tests were employed. The results show that: 1) the general prevalence was of 11.50%; 2) no differences existed between the sexes: 3) the region with the highest prevalence was the Valley (12.84%) followed by Ramal (10.43%), Quebrada (8.53%) and Puna (2.98%); 4) differences of the serum prevalence can be observed between the residents on and away from the main routes of communication denoting the existence of a migratory effect in the distribution of chagasic infection; 5) prevalence differences exist between naturalized foreigns (39.30%) and Argentines (10.25%), data which strengthen the previous remark. Except for the general prevalence, there are no similar serological surveys which might allow us to establish relationships with our results of which the outstanding one is the influence of the migratory aspect upon the prevalence and distribution of T. cruzi in the Province of Jujuy.
