Chagas’diseaseoccursinMiddleandSouthAmerica.ItisanInfectiousDiseasetransmittedtohumansthroughthebitewoundcausedbyaninfectedbugofthefamilyreduviidae.TheinfectioniscausedbyTrypanosomacruziaunicellularparasite.Theinfectionpassesthroughdifferentphasesandcausesanoften
chronicdisease.4to5millionpeopleinSouthAmericaaresufferingfromit.Peoplelivingunderpoorconditionsaremainlyjeopardized.Upto10%ofallinfectionsarefatal;bABIesandneonateshaveaspecialrisk.Theinfectionistransmittedtohumansbydifferentbugspeciesofthefamilyreduviidae.Theparasitedoesnotenterthehumanbodywiththebitofthebug.Trypanosomacruzilivesinfaecesofthebugandinvadesintohumansbyskinwounds.Newbornsareatriskbyinfectioninutero.AninfectionviabloodtransfusionisalsopossIBLe.1-2%ofallinfectedpeopleshowsymptomsafteranincubationtimeofonetofourweeks.Childrenupto15yearsoldaremainlyaffected.Thediseasepassesthroughthreedifferentphases.Duringacutephasefever,diarrhoea,gripes,swollenlymphnodesandswellingofthewholebodyappears.Especiallyinneonatesandinfantsinflammationofheartorbrainarepossible.Theacutephaselastsforca.4weeks.TheacuteChagasdiseaseismostlyadiseaseofchildren.Inmanycasesthediseaseishealedup.Thefollowinglatencyperiodischaracterizedbylackofsymptomsformostofthepatients.Occasionallyaweakeningoftheimmunesystemtakesplace.Thisphasecanlastseveralyears.10to20%ofinfectedpeoplereachthechronicphase.Differentinnerorganslikeheart,intestinaltractorneuronalsystemcanbeaffected.Patientsoftendie
besuddencardiacdeathorastheresultofachronicheartinsufficiency.Theprognosisdependsuponthedegreeofheartvariance.Avarietyofdiagnosticmethodshavebeenused,butdetectionofantibodiestoT.cruziantigensremainsthestrongestmethodtodiagnoseinfection.