Interdisciplinary approach at the primary healthcare level for Bolivian immigrants with Chagas disease in the city of São Paulo

ABSTRACT

In a pioneering cross-sectional study among Bolivian immigrants in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, the epidemiological profile, clinical manifestations and morbidity of Chagas disease were described. The feasibility of the management of Chagas disease at primary healthcare clinics using a biomedical and psychosocial interdisciplinary approach was also tested. Previously,a Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi) infection rate of 4.4% among 633 immigrants was reported. The samples were screened using two commercial enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) tests generated with epimastigote antigens, and those with discrepant or seropositive results were analyzed by confirmatory tests indirect immunofluorescence (IFI), TESA-blot and a commercial recombinant ELISA. PCR and blood cultures were performed in seropositive patients...