Chagas鈥� disease is often termed a silent killer because many victims don鈥檛 realise they are infected. Now epidemiologists, backed by two recent studies, are saying the US government must take firmer action against its stealthy spread.
More than 10 million Latin Americans carry the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, which is to blame. For those with resulting heart complications, the outlook now seems worse than previously thought. Of 424 people in Brazil diagnosed with Chagas鈥� heart disease who were followed for an average of eight years, 130 died (The New England Journal of Medicine, vol 355, p 799). Another report details how two US patients developed acute Chagas鈥� disease in February after receiving donor hearts (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, vol 55, p 798).
鈥淥f 424 people in Brazil with Chagas鈥� disease, 130 died over the next eight years鈥�
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Experts say this underscores a growing need for screening of blood and organs donated in North America, and that the US should provide more funding for programmes to spray insecticide on the walls and roofs of homes in Latin America where T. cruzi-carrying insects reside.
