They will create the map of Chagas in Argentina, an endemic disease in Mendoza



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A group of entities seeks to make a map of Chagas in Argentina. This will quickly distinguish risk levels in different parts of the country and allocate resources efficiently.

Suppose first that migratory movements can transfer the infection.

As they warn, Argentina does not count with an accurate and up-to-date investigation of the reality of the disease. Available estimates suggest that 1.5 million people are infected and 7 million are at risk of contracting the disease.

The Sano Mundo Foundation and the Bunge y Born Foundation non-profit entities, will work with Grandata, a San Francisco-based company dedicated to the application of "Big Data" social relations and human behavior.

Various sources of data will be used to locate areas of the country where, through migratory phenomena, there may be a significant number of people with Chagas disease who do not know their status or have no access to treatment.

The project is based on the assumption that population groups have a high level of communication with endemic areas such as Gran Chaco. Whether they have lived or have links to these areas, they are more likely to be infected

The procedure involves combining billions of recordings of anonymous phone calls with epidemiological databases , socio-demographic and health, in order to identify migratory patterns and infer potential niches of infection in Chagas.

According to reports, they aspire to be useful also for other infectious diseases affecting populations in vulnerable situations in Argentina.

They also hope that it will become a useful tool for the design of public policies

Endemic to Mendoza

The main route of transmission of the parasite is the vector Triatoma infestans (vinchuca). However, the congenital pathway increased its incidence as control of vector and transfusion transmission improved. It is a disease associated with poverty.

The local Ministry of Health warns that Mendoza is in the middle endemic area for this disease, due to favorable environmental conditions, ideal habitat for its multiplication and areas difficult access. For this reason, from time to time, kisses circulate around what people usually worry about. What needs to be taken into account is that they should be analyzed since only those who are infested involve a risk.

In 2015, it was estimated that 36 children were born each year with the disease, because their mother was infected

Transmission

Doctors Without Borders explains in a publication that "the vector that transmits T.cruzi is an insect known as triatomine, or popularly called vinchuca, picuo or barbeiro according to the geographical area, this insect lives in the cracks of walls and roofs of houses built with adobe bricks, branches or straw, that is to say, the most precarious housing. "

He adds that" in endemic countries, the classical way Transmission is the vector: the parasite passes to the person through the feces of the insect deposited on the skin or mucous membrane. " There are other non-vector transmission pathways, such as mother-to-child transmission during pregnancy, blood transfusions, organ transplants and the consumption of contaminated food, are not transmitted. not by direct contact with infected persons. "

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