Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Heart parasite co-infection with Dirofilaria and Trypanosoma in dogs
By Cruz-Chan, Julio Vladimir et al.·Published in Veterinary journal (London, England : 1997)·2010·Laboratorio de Parasitologí·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Dirofilaria immitis and Trypanosoma cruzi natural co-infection in dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs in Mexico was found to have both heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) and Chagas disease (Trypanosoma cruzi) at the same time. The dogs with both infections showed less severe heart inflammation compared to those with just Chagas disease. This suggests that having both parasites might change how the dog's body reacts to the infections. While some dogs had heart problems, the overall impact of the co-infection seemed to be less severe than with Chagas alone. It's important for pet owners and vets to be aware of these co-infections when diagnosing heart issues in dogs.
People also search for: dog heartworm symptoms · Chagas disease in dogs · dog heart problems treatment
Abstract
Dirofilariasis (Dirofilaria immitis) and American trypanosomiasis (Trypanosoma cruzi) are zoonotic parasitic diseases affecting the hearts of a variety of mammalian host species, including dogs. In this study, some of the immunopathological characteristics of natural co-infection by these two parasites were compared with T. cruzi infection in dogs from Mexico. Antibody analysis in serum indicated significantly lower anti-T. cruzi IgG levels in co-infected dogs (n = 4) compared to those with T. cruzi infection alone (n = 9), together with a somewhat lower IgG2/IgG1 ratio. Cardiac tissue inflammation was limited and focal in co-infected animals whereas T. cruzi infected dogs had extensive and diffuse tissue inflammation. Three out of nine T. cruzi infected dogs and 1/4 of T. cruzi and D. immitis co-infected dogs showed cardiac alterations. The results showed that co-infections may interfere with host responses, and their significant prevalence (4/13 T. cruzi infected dogs) suggests that they should be taken into account by researchers and clinicians.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19836278/