Chagas disease is transmitted by a parasite (Trypanosoma cruzi), transported by a blood sucking beetle, the vinchuca, or triatomine bug. Upon biting the victim, the vinchuca defecates next to the wound. Scratching brings the parasite in the bloodstream. It can also be transmitted through the eye, through pregnancy, blood transfusion, organ transplants or contaminated food.
Today, it is estimated that more than 18 million people are infected, and 50.000 die of Chagas every year....
more »Chagas disease is transmitted by a parasite (Trypanosoma cruzi), transported by a blood sucking beetle, the vinchuca, or triatomine bug. Upon biting the victim, the vinchuca defecates next to the wound. Scratching brings the parasite in the bloodstream. It can also be transmitted through the eye, through pregnancy, blood transfusion, organ transplants or contaminated food.
Today, it is estimated that more than 18 million people are infected, and 50.000 die of Chagas every year. Some 100 million people are at risk, mainly in Bolivia, Argentina and Honduras.
Immediate symptoms are mild and often go unnoticed. Years later, 30% of the infected develop chronic symptoms, suffering damage of the cardiovascular, nervous and digestive systems, lowering average life expectancy by approximately 9 years. There is no adequate treatment available. Children under 14 can be cured, but reinfection is always a threat. Chagas disease is directly related to poverty and to social, economic and political exclusion. In spite of the numbers, it remains largely unnoticed. Invisible because people can carry the disease for years without showing clear symptoms. Silent, because of risk of social exclusion and unemployment. Invisible, because often a simple blood test is too expensive to pay for. Unnoticed by the pharmaceutical industry because of lack of economic interest, silenced by governments because of low political importance. Uneducated, the infected live in crumbling mud houses with straw roofs, favorite home of the vinchuca, More recently, urbanisation brought Chagas disease to more populated areas and further to other continents. Various cases have appeared in the U.S., Europe, Australia, and Japan.
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