Elimination of Chagas Disease Transmission: Perspectives

One hundred years after its discovery by Carlos Chagas, American trypanosomiasis, or Chagas disease, remains an epidemiologic challenge. Neither a vaccine nor an ideal specific treatment is available for most chronic cases. Therefore, the current strategy for countering Chagas disease consists of pr...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz 2009-07, Vol.104 (suppl 1), p.41-45
Main Author: Dias, João Carlos Pinto
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Chagas Disease - epidemiology
Chagas Disease - prevention & control
Chagas Disease - transmission
congenital transmission
Humans
Insect Control - methods
Insect Vectors
oral transmission
PARASITOLOGY
transfusional transmission
TROPICAL MEDICINE
vector control
vector control - congenital transmission - transfusional transmission - oral transmission
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:One hundred years after its discovery by Carlos Chagas, American trypanosomiasis, or Chagas disease, remains an epidemiologic challenge. Neither a vaccine nor an ideal specific treatment is available for most chronic cases. Therefore, the current strategy for countering Chagas disease consists of preventive actions against the vector and transfusion-transmitted disease. Here, the present challenges, including congenital and oral transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi infections, as well as the future potential for Chagas disease elimination are discussed in light of the current epidemiological picture. Finally, a list of challenging open questions is presented about Chagas disease control, patient management, programme planning and priority definitions faced by researchers and politicians.
ISSN:1678-8060
0074-0276
1678-8060
0074-0276
DOI:10.1590/S0074-02762009000900007