Centre for Tropical Diseases, Sacro Cuore - Don Calabria Hospital, Negrar, Italy.
Euro Surveill. 2011 Sep 15;16(37):19969.
Chagas disease, a neglected tropical disease that due to population movements is no longer limited to Latin America, threatens a wide spectrum of people(travellers, migrants, blood or organ recipients,newborns, adoptees) also in non-endemic countries where it is generally underdiagnosed. In Italy, the available epidemiological data about Chagas disease have been very limited up to now, although the country is second in Europe only to Spain in the number of residents from Latin American. Among 867 at-risk subjectsscreened between 1998 and 2010, the Centre for Tropical Diseases in Negrar (Verona) and the Infectious and Tropical Diseases Unit, University of Florence found 4.2% patients with positive serology for Chagas disease (83.4% of them migrants, 13.8% adoptees).No cases of Chagas disease were identified in blood donors or HIV-positive patients of Latin American origin. Among 214 Latin American pregnant women,three were infected (resulting in abortion in one case).In 2005 a case of acute Chagas disease was recorded in an Italian traveller. Based on our observations, we believe that a wider assessment of the epidemiological situation is urgently required in our country and public health measures preventing transmission and improving access to diagnosis and treatment should be implemented.
恰加斯病是一种被忽视的热带病，由于人口流动，它不再局限于拉丁美洲，威胁着广泛的人群（旅行者、移民、血液或器官接受者、新生儿、被收养者），也包括在非流行国家，这些国家通常对此病诊断不足。在意大利，目前有关恰加斯病的流行病学数据非常有限，尽管该国在拉丁美洲居民人数方面仅次于西班牙，在欧洲排名第二。在 1998 年至 2010 年间筛查的 867 名高危人群中，内格拉尔（维罗纳）热带病中心和佛罗伦萨大学传染病和热带病科发现有 4.2%的患者恰加斯病血清学检测呈阳性（其中 83.4%为移民，13.8%为被收养者）。在献血者或原籍为拉丁美洲的 HIV 阳性患者中未发现恰加斯病病例。在 214 名拉丁美洲孕妇中，有 3 人感染（其中 1 人流产）。2005 年，一名意大利旅行者被确诊为急性恰加斯病。基于我们的观察，我们认为我国迫切需要对流行病学情况进行更广泛的评估，并应实施预防传播和改善诊断和治疗机会的公共卫生措施。
