CRIS

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://investigadores.udd.cl/handle/123456789/1

Browse

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 29
  • Some of the metrics are blocked by your 
    Item type:Publication,
    Surveillance of vector-borne infections: Dogs as sentinel animals for Orientia and Rickettsia exposure in five regions in Chile
    (Elsevier BV, 2026-06)
    Paulina López-Silva
    ;
    Constanza Martínez-Valdebenito
    ;
    Ju Jiang
    ;
    Katia Abarca
    ;
    Javier López
      1
  • Some of the metrics are blocked by your 
    Item type:Publication,
    A booster dose of an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine targeting virus variants sustains protective humoral and cellular immunity
    (Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2025-12-15)
    Constanza Méndez
    ;
    Linmar Rodríguez-Guilarte
    ;
    Pablo A. Palacios
    ;
    Cristian Gutierrez-Vera
    ;
    Francisca Román
      1
  • Some of the metrics are blocked by your 
    Item type:Publication,
    Age and primary vaccination schedule impact humoral and cellular immunity with an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine
    (Elsevier BV, 2025-08)
    Yohana Martínez-Balboa
    ;
    Linmar Rodríguez-Guilarte
    ;
    Constanza Méndez
    ;
    Mariana Ríos
    ;
    Daniela B. Rivera
      3Scopus© Citations 1
  • Some of the metrics are blocked by your 
    Item type:Publication,
    Lack of treatment options for endemic helminth infections in Chile affects patient care and public health
    (Elsevier BV, 2025-06) ;
    María Elvira Balcells
    ;
    Claudia P. Cortes
    ;
    Alberto Fica
    ;
    Renzo Tassara
      2
  • Some of the metrics are blocked by your 
    Item type:Publication,
    Hosts and vectors of scrub typhus in Chile: epidemiological study and molecular analyses of Orientia infection in rodents and rodent-associated mites
    (Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2024-12-18)
    Constanza Martínez-Valdebenito
    ;
    Gerardo Acosta-Jamett
    ;
    Rayitray Abello
    ;
    Ju Jiang
    ;
    Allen L. Richards
    <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p><jats:italic>Candidatus</jats:italic> Orientia chiloensis causes scrub typhus over a wide geographical range in southern Chile. The life cycle, including vectors and reservoirs of this novel rickettsial pathogen, is incompletely understood. We analyzed rodent tissue and rodent-associated mite samples collected during a field study in six localities on Chiloé Island, where human scrub typhus cases have occurred. Using molecular methods, we detected <jats:italic>Orientia</jats:italic> DNA in 24.8% of rodents, belonging to five of seven captured species. <jats:italic>Orientia</jats:italic>-infection rates showed geographical variations, but were not influenced by rodent species, sex, age, and mite infestation. Phylogenetic analysis showed that <jats:italic>Orientia</jats:italic> sequences from trombiculid mites (<jats:italic>Proschoengastia eloisae</jats:italic>) were identical to those from scrub typhus patients from the same region. The results suggest that these rodent-associated mites serve as vectors and play an important role in the ecology of scrub typhus in southern Chile. Further studies are required to determine whether <jats:italic>Orientia</jats:italic>-infected rodents can also serve as reservoir of <jats:italic>Orientia</jats:italic> in Chile.</jats:p> <jats:p><jats:bold>Graphical Abstract</jats:bold></jats:p>
      1Scopus© Citations 8
  • Some of the metrics are blocked by your 
    Item type:Publication,
    <i>Notes from the Field:</i> Scrub Typhus Outbreak — Los Lagos Region, Chile, January–February 2023
    (2023) ;
    Constanza Martínez-Valdebenito
    ;
    Gerardo Acosta-Jamett
    ;
    Katia Abarca
      6Scopus© Citations 4
  • Some of the metrics are blocked by your 
    Item type:Publication,
    Different Safety Pattern of an Inactivated SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine (CoronaVac®) According to Age Group in a Pediatric Population from 3 to 17 Years Old, in an Open-Label Study in Chile
    (2023)
    Nicole Le Corre
    ;
    Katia Abarca
    ;
    Patricio Astudillo
    ;
    Marcela Potin
    ;
    Sofía López
    <jats:p>During the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of vaccinating children against SARS-CoV-2 was rapidly established. This study describes the safety of CoronaVac® in children and adolescents between 3- and 17-years-old in a multicenter study in Chile with two vaccine doses in a 4-week interval. For all participants, immediate adverse events (AEs), serious AEs (SAEs), and AEs of special interest (AESIs) were registered throughout the study. In the safety subgroup, AEs were recorded 28 days after each dose. COVID-19 surveillance was performed throughout the study. A total of 1139 individuals received the first and 1102 the second dose of CoronaVac®; 835 were in the safety subgroup. The first dose showed the highest number of AEs: up to 22.2% of participants reported any local and 17.1% systemic AE. AEs were more frequent in adolescents after the first dose, were transient, and mainly mild. Pain at the inoculation site was the most frequent AE for all ages. Fever was the most frequent systemic AE for 3–5 years old and headache in 6–17 years old. No SAEs or AESIs related to vaccination occurred. Most of the COVID-19 cases were mild and managed as outpatients. CoronaVac® was safe and well tolerated in children and adolescents, with different safety patterns according to age.</jats:p>
    Scopus© Citations 3  3
  • Some of the metrics are blocked by your 
    Item type:Publication,
      10Scopus© Citations 10
  • Some of the metrics are blocked by your 
    Item type:Publication,
    Eco-epidemiology of rodent-associated trombiculid mites and infection with Orientia spp. in Southern Chile
    (2023)
    María Carolina Silva de la Fuente
    ;
    Caricia Pérez
    ;
    Constanza Martínez-Valdebenito
    ;
    Pérez Ball, Ruth
    ;
    <jats:sec id="sec001"> <jats:title>Background</jats:title> <jats:p>Scrub typhus is a potentially severe infection caused by bacteria of the genus <jats:italic>Orientia</jats:italic>, endemic in Asia-Pacific and recently discovered in southern Chile. The presented study aimed to determine the prevalence and species richness of rodent-associated trombiculid mites and their infection with <jats:italic>Orientia</jats:italic> spp. in different areas of two regions in southern Chile.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec id="sec002"> <jats:title>Methodology/Principal findings</jats:title> <jats:p>During summer 2020, trombiculid mites were collected from rodents captured in three areas in southern Chile known to be endemic for scrub typhus (Cochamó and Chiloé Island in the Los Lagos Region and Tortel in the Aysén Region). A total of 132 rodents belonging to five species were captured using Sherman-like traps; 89.4% were infested with trombiculids. Mite specimens were morphologically identified and subsequently tested by <jats:italic>Orientia</jats:italic>-specific qPCR. Six mite species were identified. Among chigger-infested rodents, 33.9% carried <jats:italic>Orientia</jats:italic>-positive mites; this rate was higher in Tortel (63.8%) than in Cochamó (45.0%) and Chiloé Island (2.0%). The analysis of individual mites (n = 901) revealed that 31.2% of <jats:italic>Herpetacarus antarctica</jats:italic> samples (n = 202) were positive for <jats:italic>Orientia</jats:italic> DNA; the prevalence was 7.0% in <jats:italic>Paratrombicula neuquenensis</jats:italic> (n = 213), 6.9% in <jats:italic>Herpetacarus eloisae</jats:italic> (n = 144), 3.6% in <jats:italic>Argentinacarus expansus</jats:italic> (n = 55), and 0% in <jats:italic>Paratrombicula goffi</jats:italic> (n = 110) and <jats:italic>Quadraseta chiloensis</jats:italic> (n = 177). The southernmost site (Tortel) showed the highest rates of trombiculid infestation, trombiculid load, and <jats:italic>Orientia</jats:italic> infection in the captured rodents.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec id="sec003"> <jats:title>Conclusions/Significance</jats:title> <jats:p>Our study provides new insights into the trombiculid fauna and prevalence of <jats:italic>Orientia</jats:italic> in mites collected from wild rodents in southern Chile. <jats:italic>Orientia</jats:italic> DNA was detected in four of the six mite species. Rates of infestation, mite loads, and <jats:italic>Orientia</jats:italic> prevalences differed geographically and were highest in the Aysén Region. Our data improve our knowledge on possible vectors of scrub typhus and their distribution in Chile.</jats:p> </jats:sec>
      1Scopus© Citations 9  2
  • Some of the metrics are blocked by your 
    Item type:Publication,
    Chigger Mites (Acariformes: Trombiculidae) of Chiloé Island, Chile, With Descriptions of Two New Species and New Data on the Genus<i>Herpetacarus</i>
    (2020)
    María Carolina Silva-de la Fuente
    ;
    Alexandr A Stekolnikov
    ;
    ;
    Esperanza Beltrami
    ;
    Constanza Martínez-Valdebenito
    <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Three species of chigger mites are recorded in our collections from four species of cricetid rodents on Chiloé Island (southern Chile, Los Lagos Region), an area endemic to scrub typhus (Orientia sp.). Two species are described as new—Herpetacarus (Abonnencia) eloisae sp. nov. and Quadraseta chiloensis sp. nov. One species, Paratrombicula goffiStekolnikov and González-Acuña 2012, is for the first time recorded on a mammal host (one species of cricetid rodent), and its distribution is extended to the Los Lagos Region of Chile. The genus ProschoengastiaVercammen-Grandjean, 1967 is synonymized with the subgenus Herpetacarus (Abonnencia)Vercammen-Grandjean, 1960, and four new combinations are established: Herpetacarus (Abonnencia) herniosa (Brennan and Jones, 1961), comb. nov., Herpetacarus (Abonnencia) insolita (Brennan and Jones, 1961), comb. nov., Herpetacarus (Abonnencia) macrochaeta (Brennan and Jones, 1961), comb. nov., and Herpetacarus (Abonnencia) antarctica (Stekolnikov and Gonzalez-Acuña, 2015), comb. nov.</jats:p>
      1Scopus© Citations 18  1