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The disease has spread to the U.S. in the last 40 years, says the American Heart Association, but many doctors are unfamiliar with how to diagnose and treat it.
Chagas disease, caused by a parasite, affects people primarily in rural Latin America. But an estimated 300,000 people in the U.S. have it and many are unaware.
In many cases the first sign of Chagas heart disease is heart failure, thromboembolism, or chest pain associated with abnormalities in the microvasculature. [18] Also common in chronic Chagas disease is damage to the digestive system, which affects 10–21% of people. [2] Enlargement of the esophagus or colon are the most common digestive ...
Doctors, researchers, and patient advocates say the U.S. could be doing far more to combat Chagas, which causes serious heart disease in an estimated 30% of infected people and can also lead to ...
Chagas is a potentially fatal neglected disease that affects between 8 and 13 million people worldwide. DNDi 's Time to Treat campaign is pushing for increased political interest in new treatments for Chagas disease, increased public awareness of the disease and treatment limitations and increased public and private investment in R&D.
To complete his work on the pathology of the new disease, Chagas described 27 cases of the acute form of the disease and performed more than 100 autopsies on patients who exhibited the chronic form. Chagas's description of the new disease was to become a classic in medicine, and brought him domestic and international distinction.
World Chagas Disease Day is observed on April 14 to raise awareness around Chagas disease. It was first celebrated on April 14, 2020, and was named after Carlos Ribeiro Justiniano Chagas , the Brazilian doctor who diagnosed the first case on April 14, 1909.
However, only 1.5 million people are estimated to live in areas at moderate or high risk, [1] and for over 20 years the number of cases has been going down due to systematic surveillance and control efforts: in 1998 almost 40,000 cases were reported but almost 300,000 cases were suspected to have occurred; [2] in 2009, the number dropped below ...