Trypanosoma cruzi Parasitemia in Chronic Chagas Disease: Comparison between Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)–Positive and HIV-Negative Patients

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases Vol. 186; no. 6; pp. 872 - 875
• Main Authors: Sartori, Ana Marli C., Neto, José Eluf, Nunes, Elizabete Visone, Braz, Lucia Maria Almeida, Caiaffa-Filho, Hélio H., Oliveira, Oswaldo da Cruz, Neto, Vicente Amato, Shikanai-Yasuda, Maria Aparecida
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago, IL The University of Chicago Press 15.09.2002; University of Chicago Press; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: Adult; AIDS; AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections - complications; AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections - parasitology; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Blood; CD4 Lymphocyte Count; Chagas disease; Chagas Disease - complications; Chagas Disease - parasitology; Concise Communications; Female; HIV; HIV infections; HIV Infections - complications; HIV Infections - parasitology; HIV-1 - isolation & purification; HIV-1 - physiology; Human protozoal diseases; Human viral diseases; Humans; Infectious diseases; Logistic Models; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Nymphs; Odds Ratio; Parasitemia; Parasitemia - complications; Parasitemia - parasitology; Parasites; Parasitic diseases; Parasitism; Protozoal diseases; T lymphocytes; Tropical medicine; Trypanosoma cruzi - isolation & purification; Trypanosomiasis; Viral diseases; Viral diseases of the lymphoid tissue and the blood. Aids; Kinetoplastida; Human; Immunopathology; Protozoa; Protozoal disease; Mixed infection; Retroviridae; Chagas disease; AIDS; Parasitosis; Immune deficiency; Lentivirus; Trypanosoma cruzi; Infection; Virus; Concomitant disease; Viral disease; Human immunodeficiency virus; Parasitemia; Trypanosomiasis
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1086/342510

This study evaluated Trypanosoma cruzi parasitemia in persons with chronic Chagas disease, compared the parasitemia in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)–positive and –negative subjects, and, for HIV-positive subjects, analyzed the association between parasitemia and occurrence of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome–defining illnesses, CD4 cell counts, HIV loads, and antiretroviral therapy. In total, 110 adults with chronic Chagas disease (29 HIV positive, 81 HIV negative) were studied. T. cruzi parasitemia was evaluated by xenodiagnosis, blood culture, and direct microscopic examination of blood. T. cruzi parasitemia was detected significantly more frequently in HIV-positive than in HIV-negative subjects (odds ratio, 12.3; 95% confidence interval, 3.7–41.2). HIV-positive patients also had higher levels of parasitemia. No statistically significant association was seen between parasitemia and the variables of interest among the HIV-positive subjects