Chagas Disease

Abstract

This chapter discusses the American trypanosomiasis, Chagas disease, which is an endemic disease. Its etiological agent is a flagellated protozoan, Trypanosoma cruzi, transmitted by a triatomine insect vector. This disease was first described by the Brazilian physician Carlos Justiniano Ribeiro Chagas in 1909. The disease has an acute phase, which may be mistaken for a flu, although occasionally it can lead to fatal meningoencephalitis or acute myocarditis. The presence of the parasite can be detected by DNA amplification by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and new recombinant antigens are being applied for serodiagnosis. The major form of transmission of the disease is by a triatomine insect vector, such as Triatoma infestans, Panstrongilus megistus, Rhodnius prolixus, and Dipetalogaster maximus. The infective form of T. cruzi is found in the posterior end of the triatomine's gut and is released with the feces. The parasite then penetrates the mammalian skin through the puncture left by the bite, helped by instinctive scratching, or actively when left on a mucosal membrane.