Parasitic diseases in African students: how international exchange programs could affect public health

  • Oscar Noya Universidad Central - Venezuela
  • María Campos Elisa Universidad Central - Venezuela
  • Sandra Losada Universidad Central - Venezuela
  • Jorge Cárdenas Universidad Central - Venezuela
  • Rosalba Pabón Universidad Central - Venezuela
  • Rosa Contreras Universidad Central - Venezuela
  • Cecilia Colmenares Universidad Central - Venezuela
  • Belkisyolé Alarcón de Noya Universidad Central - Venezuela
  • Alberto Valera Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) “Salvador Allende” - Venezuela
  • Sandra Moreno Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) “Salvador Allende” - Venezuela
Palabras clave: migration, parasites, screening

Resumen

Evidence shows that migratory processes alter the dynamics of infectious diseases, thus representing a challenge to public health in both a do- mestic and international scale. After the arrival of a group of 122 African medi- cal asymptomatic students to Venezuela for an educational exchange program, screening for eight parasitic diseases was done. The aim was to determine the presence of these diseases using standard parasitological tests, ELISA, immu- nochromatographic rapid test and MABA (Multiple Antigen Blot Assay). Six patients were found to have been carrying an active schistosomiasis and one was infected with Plasmodium falciparum. When using ELISA as the standard reference test, a total of 13 individuals were seropositive for toxoplasmosis, seven for amoebiasis, three for hydatidosis and two for cysticercosis. No pa- tients exhibited seropositivity for trypanosomiasis and fascioliasis according to ELISA. The introduction of infected individuals to the country might represent a threat to public health, which raises the need to establish screening protocols for asymptomatic people who intend to stay in Venezuela. In the frame of these results, recommendations regarding an appropriate evaluation for immigrants are discussed.

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Biografía del autor/a

Oscar Noya, Universidad Central - Venezuela

Institute of Tropical Medicine (IMT), Central University of Venezuela (UCV), Caracas, Venezuela

María Campos Elisa, Universidad Central - Venezuela

Luis Razetti School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UCV, Caracas, Venezuela

Sandra Losada, Universidad Central - Venezuela
Institute of Tropical Medicine (IMT), Central University of Venezuela (UCV), Caracas, Venezuela
Jorge Cárdenas, Universidad Central - Venezuela
Luis Razetti School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UCV, Caracas, Venezuela
Rosalba Pabón, Universidad Central - Venezuela

Institute of Tropical Medicine (IMT), Central University of Venezuela (UCV), Caracas, Venezuela

Rosa Contreras, Universidad Central - Venezuela

Institute of Tropical Medicine (IMT), Central University of Venezuela (UCV), Caracas, Venezuela.

Cecilia Colmenares, Universidad Central - Venezuela
Institute of Tropical Medicine (IMT), Central University of Venezuela (UCV), Caracas, Venezuela.
Belkisyolé Alarcón de Noya, Universidad Central - Venezuela
Institute of Tropical Medicine (IMT), Central University of Venezuela (UCV), Caracas, Venezuela.
Alberto Valera, Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) “Salvador Allende” - Venezuela

Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) “Salvador Allende”, Caracas, Venezuela

Sandra Moreno, Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) “Salvador Allende” - Venezuela
Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) “Salvador Allende”, Caracas, Venezuela
Publicado
2018-08-26
Cómo citar
Noya, O., Elisa, M. C., Losada, S., Cárdenas, J., Pabón, R., Contreras, R., Colmenares, C., Alarcón de Noya, B., Valera, A., & Moreno, S. (2018). Parasitic diseases in African students: how international exchange programs could affect public health. Investigación Clínica, 59(2), 118. Recuperado a partir de https://www.produccioncientificaluz.org/index.php/investigacion/article/view/29096
Sección
Trabajos Originales