OBJECTIVES Distinguishing the patterns of autoantibodies (AAB) against G-protein-coupled receptors in Chagas' cardiomyopathy and megacolon and the discovery of such a pattern in patients who are as yet asymptomatic could help to identify patients at high risk of developing the life-threatening complications of Chagas' disease. BACKGROUND Such AAB against receptors as beta 1 (beta1-AAB), beta ...

Chagas disease is the leading cause of nonischemic cardiomyopathy in Latin America. Timely access to diagnosis and trypanocidal treatment and preventive tools for millions of infected people continues to be a challenge. The purpose of this study was to identify potential barriers for the diagnosis of Chagas disease in Colombia from the perspective of healthcare providers. Using a simultaneous m...

Chagas disease has rightfully earned the designation as ‘‘the most neglected of the neglected diseases’’ [1]. Most of the 10–20 million people already infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, the protozoal agent of Chagas disease, are untreated, despite the existence of effective therapies. Diagnostics are largely archaic (xenodiagnosis—using the blood-feeding insect vectors to detect infection—is stil...

OBJECTIVE To quantify the percentage of contractility of different myocardial segments in patients with Chagas' disease by measuring myocardial strain and to assess the differences in the radial and longitudinal ventricular contractile function in the undetermined and dilated forms of chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy as compared with those in a group of healthy individuals. METHODS The study c...

In control programs for vectorial transmission of Chagas' disease, conventional microscopic procedures are generally performed to determine baseline levels of infectivity of vectors. Reported here are data using Polymerase Chain Reaction in the detection of Trypanosoma cruzi in Triatoma dimidiata, one of the principal vectors of Chagas' disease in Ecuador. The microscopy and PCR techniques show...

Treatment for Chagas disease with currently available medications is recommended universally only for acute cases (all ages) and for children up to 14 years old. The World Health Organization, however, also recommends specific antiparasite treatment for all chronic-phase Trypanosoma cruzi-infected individuals, even though in current medical practice this remains controversial, and most physicia...

I f ever there were a good example of a problem calling for a regional solution and steady sustained leadership, Chagas disease is it. Chagas disease, or American trypanosomiasis, is a debilitating and deadly infection that afflicts rural communities throughout Latin America. The poorest people living in rural areas, particularly those with inadequate housing, are the most vulnerable. In the ea...

Chagas disease in non-endemic countries that is, in countries outside Latin America with exceptional or no vectorial transmission such as in Europe has come to light since the beginning of 2000. The emergence of the disease in those countries was mainly linked to population mobility, notably migration. During the last century, Chagas disease cases were detected in nonendemic countries in North ...