What is Chagas Disease and What Causes It

Chagas disease is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, which is transmitted to animals and people by insect vectors that are found only in the Americas (mainly, in rural areas of Latin America where poverty is widespread). Chagas disease (T. cruzi infection) is also referred to as American trypanosomiasis.

1. What are the symptoms of Chagas disease in humans?
2. What are two ways Chagas disease can be spread?
3. What is Chagas disease in humans?
4. What does Chagas disease look like?
5. Is there a blood test for Chagas disease?
6. What bugs carry Chagas disease?
7. How do you prevent Chagas?
8. Where are Chagas bugs found?
9. Where is Chagas disease most common?
10. Is Chagas disease in the United States?
11. Is Chagas disease a concern in the US?
12. How common is Chagas disease?

What are the symptoms of Chagas disease in humans?

What are the symptoms of Chagas disease?

• Mild flu-like symptoms, such as fever, fatigue, body aches, and headaches.
• Rash.
• Loss of appetite.
• Diarrhea.
• Vomiting.
• Swelling or a sore near the eye or on the side of the face where the bite or infection occurred (visible in fewer than half of infected people)
• Enlarged glands.

What are two ways Chagas disease can be spread?

Chagas disease can be transmitted in five different ways:

• by a vector (through insect faeces)
• vertical or congenital (from mother to her child during pregnancy)
• blood transfusions and organ transplants.
• oral.
• accidental laboratory exposure.

What is Chagas disease in humans?

Chagas disease, also known as American trypanosomiasis, is a potentially life-threatening illness caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. About 6 million to 7 million people worldwide are estimated to be infected with T. cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas disease.

What does Chagas disease look like?

Acute-phase symptoms of Chagas disease may be swelling and/or redness at the skin infection site (termed chagoma), rash, swollen lymph nodes, fever, head and body aches, fatigue, nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea, liver and/or spleen enlargement, and the Romaña sign.

Is there a blood test for Chagas disease?

In addition to the microscopic exam, laboratory blood testing also can be very accurate in diagnosing acute Chagas disease. This is done with a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, which detects the DNA of T. cruzi in the blood sample.

What bugs carry Chagas disease?

Kissing bugs are insects that may be infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas disease. They are commonly known as cone-nose bugs or chinches. Kissing bugs feed on blood during the night, and they are called kissing bugs because they prefer to bite humans around the mouth or eyes.

How do you prevent Chagas?

Prevention

1. Avoid sleeping in a mud, thatch or adobe house. These types of residences are more likely to harbor triatomine bugs.
2. Use insecticide-soaked netting over your bed when sleeping in thatch, mud or adobe houses.
3. Use insecticides to remove insects from your residence.
4. Use insect repellent on exposed skin.

Where are Chagas bugs found?

They are typically found in the southern United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America (as far south as southern Argentina). The map below details triatomine occurrence by U.S. state. Eleven different species of triatomine bugs have been found in the southern United States: Paratriatoma hirsuta.

Where is Chagas disease most common?

People who have Chagas disease can be found anywhere in the world. However, transmission of the disease by kissing bugs (vectorborne transmission), only occurs in the Americas. Most people with Chagas disease became infected in rural areas of Mexico, Central America, and South America.

Is Chagas disease in the United States?

An estimated 8 million people worldwide are infected with T cruzi, and the United States has the seventh highest prevalence of Chagas infections. Of the estimated 300,000 US individuals infected with the parasite, 30,000 to 45,000 will develop Chagas heart disease.

Is Chagas disease a concern in the US?

Chagas disease, a potentially life-threatening disease caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, has become a concern in the United States as a result of human emigration from Latin America where Chagas disease is endemic (1).

How common is Chagas disease?

More than 5 million people worldwide have Chagas disease. In the United States, there are estimated to be at least 300,000 cases of chronic Chagas disease among people originally from countries of Latin America where Chagas disease is endemic.