José Lima Pedreira de Freitas and the redefinition and control of Chagas disease

Abstract

A brief overview of the evolution of knowledge about Chagas disease since its discovery by Carlos Chagas in 1909 until the mid-1940s is presented. The trajectory of physician Pedreira de Freitas and his growing involvement in research in the area led to his contributions to laboratory diagnosis - which lent consistency and security to epidemiological surveys of Chagas disease - and the redefinition of the scale of the disease in Brazil and the Americas with its terrible social and economic impact. His proposal for the disease prevention model - based on selective purging in the application of insecticide - was adopted nationally and internationally and made it possible to bring the disease under control in Brazil and other countries. He devoted himself with equal intensity to enhancing the teaching of medical practices in the community and was a pioneer in the implementation of preventive medicine in medical education in Brazil.