Including unpublished surveys in reviews on Chagas disease in Mexico

Public Health Rev. 2020 Nov 11;41(1):24. doi: 10.1186/s40985-020-00140-7.

Abstract

A consequence of the late awareness of Chagas disease in North America is that many early studies were never published in peer-reviewed journals and are not easily accessible for inclusion in systematic reviews. We reviewed data from the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, as an illustration. Three population-based surveys have been performed between 1991 and 2002 and were never fully published. Systematic reviews should recognize this publication bias.

Keywords: Chagas disease; Guanajuato; Mexico; Trypanosoma cruzi.