American trypanosomiasis and electrocardiographic alterations among industrial workers in São Paulo, Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Goldbaum, Moisés
• Data de Publicação: 2004
• Outros Autores: Ajimura, Fabio Yoshito, Litvoc, Júlio, Carvalho, Silvino Alves de, Eluf-Neto, José
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo
• Texto Completo: https://www.revistas.usp.br/rimtsp/article/view/30853
• topic: Chagas disease; Cardiomiopathy; Cross-sectional study; Industrial workers

In this article, we evaluate electrocardiographic (ECG) alterations among urban workers from a mechanical-metallurgical industry in São Paulo, Brazil. In a cross-sectional survey carried out in 1980, we found 2.2% positive serological testing for Trypanosoma cruzi infection among 27,081 workers. A comparison between seropositive workers and a random sample of seronegative workers frequency-matched by age and occupation revealed that seropositive workers had a much lower educational level, and that a higher proportion of seropositive workers had ECG abnormalities (42.7%) when compared to those negative for T. cruzi infection (19.8%). The high frequency of ECG abnormalities suggests the need to provide medical assistance to these workers, without any kind of discrimination and to bring in a form of management that would decrease this dangerous risk to the workers and people around them.