Relato de infestação por Tunga penetrans em comunidade de Alagoas e tentativa de estabelecimento do ciclo biológico em laboratório

Abstract

Tungiasis is an ectoparasitic disease considered neglected, constituting an important public health problem. Caused by the penetration of the female Tunga penetrans flea. Tungiasis remains in Brazil and affects rural, indigenous, and marginalized urban communities. Despite this, studies on the prevalence of the disease are scarce, especially in the Northeast region. Furthermore, data that demonstrate characteristics of the standardization of the parasite's life cycle in the laboratory may facilitate its eradication. The study aimed to report cases of tungiasis in the village of Barreiras and Sururu Community of Capote (state of Alagoas, Brazil), as well as the natural infestation of Wistar rats with T. penetrans. For this, visits were made to the communities to observe housing and environmental conditions. In an attempt to establish the biological cycle in the laboratory, Wistar rats were placed in hollow cages in the studied locations, for natural infestation. As a result, we observed that residents lived in houses located on unpaved streets; many of these houses had cement floors; the garbage was sent to the mangrove/river and lake or disposed of in a peridomicile region. Furthermore, it was observed that residents shared their houses with animals (e.g., dog and cat) and the peridomestic environment consisted of sand. There were also natural infestations of Wistar rats with T. penetrans in the studied communities and the lesions were classified as 3B and 5. Due to the low rate of infestation by T. penetrans in Wistar rats, it was not possible to establish the biological cycle of the parasite in laboratory. The socio-environmental and observational data of this research demonstrate the facilitating conditions for the progression of tungiasis and the need for integrated basic health actions for these communities.