Risk factors and level of knowledge of Chagas disease in the General Villamil parish, Guayas-Ecuador 2020

Abstract

Chagas disease is a disease caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi transmitted by hematophagous insects of the Triatominae subfamily, being present in Ecuador where it includes the province of Guayas. Objective. Evaluate the risk factors and level of knowledge of Chagas disease, in the General Villamil parish, Guayas-Ecuador, 2020. Methodology. The research was descriptive, cross-sectional, non-experimental, with a sample of 58 heads of household. A questionnaire was used as a data collection instrument, and the search for triatomines was carried out using the capture / hour / man method, the vector was taxonomically identified by age and the detection of Trypanosoma cruzi involvement by microscopic observation of the feces. Outcome. 38% of the heads of families know Chagas as a parasitic disease, no statistically significant difference was found between sex, educational level, occupation with the infection, houses and ranches were evidenced, finding a significance in the type of housing in relation to the presence of infected vectors, in houses with bahareque walls without frieze there is a greater risk of finding the parasite, a significant value of the distance to nearby forests and palm trees was obtained, animals in the periphery were shown as a risk factor, transmission in the area is of the vector type with the presence of Triatoma dimidiata of adult stage in 32.75%, the presence of the Trypanosoma cruzi parasite was found in 81.25%. It is necessary to expand the spectrum of preventive measures in the fight against Chagas disease.