Chagas Disease (Trypanosoma cruzi)

Abstract

Chagas disease (CD), or American trypanosomiasis, is cuased by the hemoflagelate parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. CD is named for the Brazilian physician Carlos Chagas, who discovered the disease in 1909. Patients withc CD nor can be found throughout the American, especially in Latin America, as well as on most continents in the world. CD intially presents with an acute phase of variable duration (2-8 weeks) characterized by high parasitemia and nonspecific symtoms (e.g., fever, hepatosplenomegaly), followed by a phase known as the chronic asyptomatic phase, which can last for decades before developing into the chronic symtomatic phase in about 30% of patinents. CD patients in the chronic symptomatic phase develop cardiac disorders, digestive disorders, or both.