21 Facts About Chagas disease

Chagas disease, known as American trypanosomiasis, is a tropical parasitic disease caused by Trypanosoma cruzi.

Diagnosis of early Chagas disease is by finding the parasite in the blood using a microscope or detecting its DNA by polymerase chain reaction.

Chronic Chagas disease is diagnosed by finding antibodies for in the blood.

Chagas disease occurs in two stages: an acute stage, which develops one to two weeks after the insect bite, and a chronic stage, which develops over many years.

Chagas disease is caused by infection with the protozoan parasite, which is typically introduced into humans through the bite of triatomine bugs, called "kissing bugs".

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Early in the course of the Chagas disease, is found frequently in the striated muscle fibers of the heart.

Efforts to prevent Chagas disease have largely focused on vector control to limit exposure to triatomine bugs.

Chagas disease is managed using antiparasitic drugs to eliminate T cruzi from the body, and symptomatic treatment to address the effects of the infection.

Antiparasitic treatment can slow the progression of the Chagas disease and reduce the possibility of congenital transmission.

The treatment of Chagas cardiomyopathy is similar to that of other forms of heart disease.

Chronic heart disease caused by Chagas is a common reason for heart transplantation surgery.

People with Chagas disease who undergo heart transplantation have higher survival rates than the average heart transplant recipient.

The Chagas disease resulted in a global annual economic burden estimated at US$7.

Orally transmitted Chagas disease is of particular concern in Venezuela, where 16 outbreaks have been recorded between 2007 and 2018.

Chagas disease exists in two different ecological zones: In the Southern Cone region, the main vector lives in and around human homes.

In both zones, Chagas disease occurs almost exclusively in rural areas, where circulates in wild and domestic animals.

Formal description of Chagas disease was made by Carlos Chagas in 1909 after examining a two-year-old girl with fever, swollen lymph nodes, and an enlarged spleen and liver.

Chagas disease sent infected triatomine bugs to Cruz in Rio de Janeiro, who showed the bite of the infected triatomine could transmit to marmoset monkeys as well.

In just two years, 1908 and 1909, Chagas published descriptions of the disease, the organism that caused it, and the insect vector required for infection.

Chagas' discovery brought him national and international renown, but in highlighting the inadequacies of the Brazilian government's response to the disease, Chagas attracted criticism to himself and to the disease that bore his name, stifling research on his discovery and likely frustrating his nomination for the Nobel Prize in 1921.

Serological tests for Chagas disease were introduced in the 1940s, demonstrating that infection with was widespread across Latin America.