Chagas Disease - American Trypanosomiasis

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Chagas disease or American Trypanosomiasis is an infection caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, first described by Dr. Carlos Chagas in Brazil in 1909. It is a zoonosis in which a large number of vertebrate reservoirs involved, usually mammals, such as pigs, dogs, cats, and in this case, humans and their main transmitters: triatomines (Order: Hemiptera, Order: Reduviidae), especially the so-called kissing bugs, assassin bugs or Compostela bugs (Triatoma infestans).

It’s importance lies in its high prevalence, its incurability, large economic losses in work related to incapacity, and the sudden death of apparently healthy people. It is contemplated within the list of the main "neglected diseases".

The infection is mainly transmitted by triatomine. Other modes of transmission include blood transfusion, congenital, organ transplants and oral. It is estimated that in the region of the Americas where it is endemic, affects about eight to ten million people in at least twenty-one countries, and are at risk of acquiring the disease approx. 25 million people, with 56,000 new cases per year and 12,000 deaths / year. In Mexico is estimated at 1.1 million people infected, according to official figures (WHO), although other estimates: 1-6’000,000.

The disease is considered, historically, a severe health problem in rural areas of Mexico, Central America and South America, with clinical and epidemiological variables. Now, most frequently reported cases from cities in Latin America, detected in the US, Europe and Japan, due to the migration of people, therefore has become a global public health problem. It should be noted that the US can’t be classified as a non-endemic area, since from Georgia to California enzootic transmission of T. cruzi is presented, involving different vector species and mammals, including raccoons, opossums and domestic dogs. It’s clear that the transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi is not limited to rural communities, vector transmission has also been documented in urban and periurban areas in Peru, Bolivia, Mexico, Venezuela, among other countries of Latin America.