What is the prevention of Chagas disease?
What is the prevention of Chagas disease?
Sleep under a bed net treated with insecticide if you must sleep outdoors. Practise safe food and water precautions. Avoid getting blood transfusions and organ transplants in areas where Chagas disease is found.
Is Chagas disease preventable?
Chagas disease is a preventable infection caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi and spread by infected insects called triatomine bugs, also known as “kissing bugs.” The initial infection usually does not cause severe symptoms and is often not even diagnosed.
Why is there no vaccine for Chagas disease?
The large reservoir of T. cruzi parasites in wild animals of the Americas means that the parasite cannot be eradicated. Instead, the control targets are elimination of the transmission to humans and early health-care access of the infected people. There is no vaccine for Chagas disease.
What methods may be used to diagnose Chagas disease?
The diagnosis of Chagas disease can be made by observation of the parasite in a blood smear by microscopic examination. A thick and thin blood smear are made and stained for visualization of parasites.
What countries have Chagas?
Chagas disease is the most prevalent communicable tropical disease in Latin America. The most important vectors are the Triatoma infestans in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and Peru; the R. prolixus in Colombia, Venezuela and Central America; the T.
Where did Chagas disease come from?
Chagas disease is named after the Brazilian physician Carlos Chagas, who discovered the disease in 1909. It is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, which is transmitted to animals and people by insect vectors and is found only in the Americas (mainly, in rural areas of Latin America where poverty is widespread).
Where is Chagas found?
People who have Chagas disease can be found anywhere in the world. However, transmission of the disease by kissing bugs (vectorborne transmission), only occurs in the Americas. Most people with Chagas disease became infected in rural areas of Mexico, Central America, and South America.
