Volume 15, Number 4—April 2009
Letter
Chagasic Cardiomyopathy in Immigrants from Latin America to Spain
Ana Pérez de Ayala, José-Antonio Pérez-Molina, Francesca Norman, and Rogelio López-Vélez
Table
Immigrants in Spain from Chagas disease–endemic countries in South America potentially infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, 1993–2002*
| Characteristic | No. immigrants, 2007† | Seroprevalence in blood donors, %‡ | Potential no. infected immigrants§ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Country | |||
| Ecuador | 420,110 | 0.1–0.2 | 420–840 |
| Colombia | 280,705 | 0.1–1.2 | 280–3,368 |
| Bolivia | 239,942 | 9.9–45.4 | 23,754–108,933 |
| Argentina | 145,315 | 4.4–5.5 | 6,393–7,992 |
| Peru | 120,272 | 0.1–0.2 | 120–240 |
| Brazil | 115,390 | 0.6–0.7 | 692–807 |
| Venezuela | 57,679 | 0.6–1.3 | 346–749 |
| Paraguay | 66,710 | 2.8–4.7 | 1,615–3,135 |
| Chile | 45,515 | 0.4–1.2 | 182–546 |
| Uruguay |
49,970 |
0.4–0.6 |
199–299 |
| Total | 1,541,608 | 36,567–122,232 | |
| No. adults¶ |
1,236,369 |
29,485–98,030 |
|
| Estimated no. chagasic cardiomyopathies | 5,897–29,409 | ||
*Infection determined on the basis of seroprevalence data from blood donors.
†Data obtained from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (5).
‡Data obtained from Schmunis and Cruz (2).
§Calculated by applying seroprevalence data for blood donors in countries endemic for Chagas disease to no. immigrants from each of these countries living in Spain.
¶A correction factor for age was applied (80.2% of immigrants in Spain are adults).
