ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2019
Use of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for conclusive diagnosis of chronic Chagas disease - field implementation in the Bolivian Chaco region.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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28 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 49 citations in OpenAlex.
- Rapid diagnostic tests and ELISA for diagnosing chronic Chagas disease: Systematic revision and meta-analysis.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Pooled it
- From delay to action: rethinking Chagas disease diagnosis with rapid testing in Colombia.Journal of global health · 2026Article
- Screening strategies for Chagas Disease: evaluation of a field diagnostic algorithm in Santiago del EsteroRevista de la Facultad de Ciencias Medicas (Cordoba, Argentina) · 2026Article
- Towards new care strategies in a suburban healthcare center in La Matanza, Argentina: performance evaluation of rapid diagnostic tests for Chagas disease in a non-endemic area.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Article
- Rapid High-Sensitivity Detection of Antibodies to Trypanosoma cruzi With a Recombinant Tc24 Antigen-Based Magneto-Immunoassay: A Pilot Study.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Triatoma dimidiata, domestic animals and acute Chagas disease: a 10-year follow-up after an eco-bio-social intervention.Parasites & vectors · 2025Article
- Prevalence, knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding Chagas disease in Guanare, Venezuela: a cross-sectional study.Parasites & vectors · 2025Article
- Prevalence and diagnostic accuracy of different diagnostic tests for Chagas disease in an indigenous community of the Paraguayan Chaco.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Performance evaluation of rapid diagnostic tests for Chagas disease in Jutiapa, Guatemala.Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical · 2025Observational
- Evaluation of strategies for the diagnosis of Chagas disease in an endemic area: SaMi-Trop study.Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de Sao Paulo · 2025Article
- The use of rapid diagnostic tests for chronic Chagas disease: An expert meeting report.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Review
- Retrospect, advances and challenges in Chagas disease diagnosis: a comprehensive review.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2024Review
- A guide for the generation of repositories of clinical samples for research on Chagas disease.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- Trypanosoma cruzi Infection in Pregnancies without Congenital Transmission Is Associated with Reduced Fetal Growth: A Cross-Sectional Study in Argentina, Honduras, and Mexico.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2024Article
- Comparative evaluation of lateral flow assays to diagnose chronic Trypanosoma cruzi infection in Bolivia.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- Article
- Laboratory evaluation of eleven rapid diagnostic tests for serological diagnosis of Chagas disease in Colombia.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2023Observational
- Laboratory diagnosis ofFrontiers in parasitology · 2023Review
- Accuracy of Diagnostic Tests for the Detection of Chagas Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Chagas disease, caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, is the neglected tropical disease with a highest burden in Latin America. Its acute stage is mostly asymptomatic and goes unnoticed. Symptoms appear at the chronic stage, which is when diagnosis is usually made. This is based on the agreement of two conventional serological tests such as Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISAs). There are commercial kits with good sensitivity and specificity but their use is impractical in many highly endemic regions with poorly equipped laboratories. Luckily, several rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are available for the detection of anti-T. cruzi immunoglobulins. They are easy to operate, require no cold storage, provide fast turnaround of results, and some can work with a tiny volume of whole blood as sample. With the aim to field validate their use we compared an alternative algorithm based on a combination of RDTs with the standard based on ELISAs. In both cases a third test was available in case of discordance. RDTs were implemented by mobile teams in field campaigns to detect chronic T. cruzi-infections in the Chaco region of Bolivia. ELISAs were made in the reference laboratories located in the main hospitals of Yacuiba and Villa Montes, two major cities of the region. We enrolled 685 subjects who voluntarily participated in the study and had not been treated against the disease before. The agreement between the two main RDTs was 93.1% (638/685) (kappa index = 0.86; CI 95% 0.83-0.90). In comparison to the ELISAs algorithm, the combined use of the RDTs provided a sensitivity of 97.7% and a specificity of 96.1%. These results support the use of RDTs for the diagnosis of chronic Chagas disease in the studied region, and encourage their evaluation in other regions of Bolivia and other endemic countries.
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