Rodrigo Zeledón Araya, Costa Rican parasitologist, medical entomologist and microbiologist  (Puntarenas 15 February 1930 – 11 September 2023)

Authored over 240 papers, 4 monographs, 9 books and 15 book chapters

First to obtain in vitro culture of Dermatobia hominis larvae

With S. Silva. Attempts to culture the parasitic stage of Dermatobia hominis (L. Jr.) in vitro (Diptera: Cuterebridae). J. Parasitol. 73(5):907-9, 1987

Elucidated the complete life cycle of trematode species Paragonimus mexicanus  

With R. Brenes & G. Rojas. Biological cycle and taxonomic position of a Costa Rican Paragonimus and the present status of Paragonimus from the New World. Brenesia 18:353-366, 1980

Discovered and described the phenomenon of nymphs of Triatoma dimidiata hide itselves in the dust of houses

With A. Zuñiga & J.C. Swartzwelder. The camouflage of Triatoma dimidiata and the epidemiology of Chagas’ disease in Costa Rica. Bol. Chil. Parasitol. 24(1):106-8, 1969 

Described a sensitive skin test for chronic Chagas disease

With C. Ponce. A skin test for the diagnosis of Chagas disease. Trans. Royal Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg. 68:414-5, 1974

Developed a culture medium for distinguishing Trypanosoma cruzi and Trypanosoma rangeli

Differentiation of Trypanosoma rangeli and Schizotrypanum cruzi in a liquid medium with notes on the nutrition of hemoflagellates. J. Parasitol. 45(6):652, 1959

First to demonstrate that flagellates protozoan bind favouredly to cells surface of insects rectal glands

With R. Bolaños & M. Rojas. Scanning electron microscopy of the final phase of the life cycle of Trypanosoma cruzi in the insect vector. Acta tropica 41(1):39-43, 1984

Demonstrated the relationship between the physiology of Leishmania mexicana and the body temperature of Guinea pig

Developed a method to isolate Leishmania panamensis from Phlebotomus sp.

With C. Ponce, R. Soto & J. Murillo. A method for the isolation of Leishmania braziliensis  from sandflies (1977) 

Proposed the utilization of an antigen from Crithidia oncopelti in Montenegro intradermal test

With R. Hidalgo & H. Hidalgo. The Montenegro intradermal reaction with Strigomonas oncopelti antigen. A preliminary note (1960)

Presented a new treatment of Costa Rican cutaneous leishmaniosis with drug infiltration into lesion

With E. Solano & H. Hidalgo. Successful intralesional treatment of leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania brasiliensis panamensis using glucantime. Med. Cutan. Ibero Lat. Am. 12(1):19-24, 1984

Proposed visitation index, a d-risk parameter 

A new entomological indicator useful in epidemiological studies and in control campaigns against Chagas disease. Entomol. Vect. 10:269-76, 2003

First to describe the possibility of spontaneous cure for Chagas disease

With J.C.P. Dias, A. Brilla Salazar, J.M. Rezende, L.G. Vargas & A. Urbina. Does a spontaneous cure for Chagas disease exist? Rev. Soc. Bras. Med. Trop. 21:15-20, 1988

Papers with more than 100 citations

With V. Montenegro, M. Jimenez & J.C. Pinto Dias. Chagas disease in dogs from endemic areas of Costa Rica. Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz 97(4):491-4, 2002

With J. Rabinovich. Chagas disease: an ecological appraisal with special emphasis on its insect vectors. Ann. Rev. Entomol. 26:101-33, 1981

With R. Alvarado & L.F. Jirón. Observations on the feeding and defecation patterns of three Triatominae species (Hemiptera: Reduviidae). Acta Trop. 34(1):65-77, 1977

DESCRIBED NEW SPECIES

Protozoa

Leishmania herreri 1979 with Ponce & Murillo

Leptomonas costaricensis 2006 with Yurchenko et al.

Trypanosoma leonidasdeanei 1969 with Rosabal

Arthropoda

Triatoma ryckmani 1972 with Ponce

HONORS

Zelonia Shaw, Camargo & Teixeira 2016 (Protozoa)

LINKS

http://www.conicit.go.cr/sector_cyt/cientificos/especialistas/RodrigoZeledon.pdf (Spanish)