A Study on the Susceptibility of Triatomid Bugs to some Mexican Strains of Trypanosoma Cruzi1

Abstract

A comparative study was made on the susceptibility of Triatoma infestans and Triatoma barberi to different Mexican strains of TRYPANOSOMA CRUZI. A total of 128 T. infestans were exposed to 5 strains of T. cruzi resulting in 14.1% not acquiring an infection. Of the 138 T. barberi tested with the strains only 5.1% remained negative. T. barberi was more susceptible than T. infestans, and in general, T. cruzi had a faster rate of development in the former reduviid. The variation between different growth patterns and development for the same strains is due probably to the different physiology of the bugs. The significance of the above results is that T. barberi and the strains of T. cruzi are both native to Mexico. Methods of obtaining improved results with xenodiagnosis are pointed out.