[Xenodiagnosis and criteria to assess the level of parasitemia in chronic chagasic patients].

Xenodiagnosis sensibility and its relation to Chagas' disease chronic phase parasitemia was verified in 104 patients. The nymphs of the triatomine species, simultaneously utilized in the xenodiagnosis of these patients, divided into two groups, were examined in different ways. The positivity rates achieved in the two groups (40.0% and 42.4%) and the individual positivity rates suggest a reavaliation in what is called "quantification of the chronic chagasic patient parasitemia", considering the methodology used in the xenodiagnosis examinations.