Table 2.
Parasite load of Trypanosoma cruzi (parasite equivalents/ml) in blood samples of dogs and owners from a rural community from southern Mexico that were diagnosed as positive cases using real-time PCR (qPCR) and the proportion of these cases detected by ELISA and Western blot (WB) technique
| Parasite load levela | qPCR positive cases | Parasite loadb | Cases detected by ELISA/WB (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dogs | |||
| Low | 14 | 2.5–8.7 (5.2 ± 1.7) | 5 (35.7) |
| Medium | 2 | 19.6–20.1 (19.9 ± 0.4) | 1 (50.0) |
| High | 10 | 22.9–32.7 (27.4 ± 3.5) | 9 (90.0) |
| Overall | 26 | 2.5–32.7 (14.8 ± 11.1) | 15 (57.7) |
| Humans | |||
| Low | 3 | 5.4–7.6 (6.6 ± 1.1) | 0 (0) |
| Medium | 5 | 10.0–18.1 (14.0 ± 3.1) | 4 (80.0) |
| High | 1 | 33.0 | 1 (100) |
| Overall | 9 | 5.4–33.0 (13.7 ± 8.4) | 5 (55.6) |
a
Low, 1–10 parasite equivalents/ml; medium, 11–20 parasite equivalents/ml; high, >21 parasite equivalents/ml.
b
Range (Mean ± SD) parasite equivalents/ml.