HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Packchanian, A. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Packchanian, A.

Infectivity of the Texas Strain of Trypanosoma Cruzi to Man¹

1. A blood-sucking insect, Triatoma heidemanni (endogenous in Texas), naturally infected with Trypanosoma cruzi was crushed and droplets of the infected material introduced into the left eye of an adult male negro. He contracted the infection and developed a typical case of trypanosomiasis, or Chagas' disease.

2. The chief clinical findings consisted of acute edema and hyperemia of the eyelids and conjunctivae, lasting from four to six days, enlargement of the axillary lymph nodes, and low grade fever.

3. The positive laboratory findings consisted of: a) demonstration of T. cruzi directly in the patient's blood 21, 28, 35, 42 and 63 days after the exposure; b) cultivation of T. cruzi directly from the patient's blood 21, 28, 35, 42, 49, 63 and 84 days after the exposure; c) positive animal inoculation tests for T. cruzi 21, 28, 35, 42, 49 and 63 days, and d) positive xenodiagnostic findings on 42, 49 and 63 days after the inoculation.

4. Cultural tests gave a higher percentage of positive results than other diagnostic methods. At times positive growth was obtained in vitro from 0.1 cc. of the patient's blood.

5. The present study demonstrates that the Texas strain of Trypanosoma cruzi is capable of infecting man with a disease clinically identical with that known as Chagas' disease or South American trypanosomiasis.

Received March 3, 1943.
¹ The writer is indebted to Dr. S. W. Bohls, Director of the State of Texas Laboratory, for his kind and helpful interest in the work, and to the Texas State Department of Health for laboratory facilities during 1940–41. Thanks are also due Drs. C. H. Standifer, G. G. Zedler, and J. Vanden Bossche, of Texas, for their valuable clinical assistance in this case.