Chagas disease (also known as American trypanosomiasis)
Chagas
disease (also known as American trypanosomiasis)
Key
facts
·
About 6–7 million people
worldwide, mostly in Latin America, are estimated to be infected with
Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas disease.
·
It can be transmitted by
the triatomine bug (vector-borne), as well as orally (food-borne), during
pregnancy or birth (congenital), through blood/blood products, organ
transplantation and laboratory accidents.
·
Chagas disease is curable
if antiparasitic treatment is initiated early, in the acute phase. In chronic
infection, the treatment and follow up can potentially prevent or curb disease
progression and prevent transmission, for instance, during pregnancy and birth.
·
Up to a third of people
with chronic infection develop cardiac alterations and 1 in 10 develop
digestive, neurological or mixed alterations which may require specific
treatment.
·
Key strategies to prevent
Chagas disease include vector control (in Latin America); blood screening prior
transfusion and transplantation; testing and treating girls, women of
reproductive age, newborns and siblings of mothers with infection; and information,
education and communication for communities and health professionals.
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