Chagas disease awareness and socioeconomic characteristics of Bolivian immigrants living in São Paulo, Brazil.

In this study, part of a research project on Chagas disease among residents of Bolivia in Sao Paulo, we describe socioeconomic characteristics, knowledge about the disease and access to health services. A structured questionnaire was applied to a sample of 472 Bolivian adults (> 18 years) living in Sao Paulo enrolled in the Barra Funda School Health Center. The median age of participants was 28.5 years, 75.0% from the Bolivian department of La Paz, who were living in Sao Paulo for an average of 5.8 years. Regarding knowledge about the disease and exposure to certain risk factors, 47.7% indicated familiarity with the vector, 23.9% had seen vinchuca in their homes in Bolivia and 6.4% reported having been bitten by a triatomine. The conditions of living in rural areas in Bolivia or in other department than La Paz, have a relative with illness, high school graduation and have seen or been bitten by a vinchuca were significantly associated with the knowledge of the vector. This study provides a view on migration that has important implications for the distribution of Chagas9 disease and access to health care by providing subsidies for proposing public health policies.