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Chagas disease vaccine research led by Peter Hotez at Baylor

ChagasAustin, Baylor College of Medicine, , Peter Hotez, Texas

Sabin Vaccine Institute President Dr. Peter Hotez is leading the research at Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine to develop the first-ever vaccine for Chagas disease. Approximately 18 million people worldwide are affected by the disease, mostly in parts of Latin America and the Caribbean, and can also be found in parts of North America. Caused by the parasite called Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi), Chagas is transmitted by a bite from the vanchuga bug, and can lead to heart disease and digestive complications.

Having recently moved to Houston, Texas to take his position as dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor, Dr. Hotez announced last week that he is in the preliminary stages of research for a Chagas vaccine, where then the development of the vaccine will take place at the Sabin Vaccine Institute & Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development. Take a look at the excerpt below or read the full story on the Austin-American Statesman.

“Responding to an article we published today about little-known Chagas disease, the Sabin Vaccine Institute & Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development in Houston informed us that one of its nationally known doctors is working on a vaccine.

Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor and president of the Sabin institute (a partnership with Texas Children’s Hospital), said his research is in the early stages. It could take a decade for his vaccine to be available, if all goes well. Researchers in other countries also are working on a Chagas vaccine.

Chagas is a serious disease that is common in Latin American but is believed to be a greater threat in Texas than previously thought to dogs and people, based on research done by University of Texas Professor Sahotra Sarkar.”

Kiss of Death: A Parasite Threatens Latin American Immigrants

Latin America and the Caribbean, NTDs,

Helen Coster is a staff writer at Forbes; we’ve highlighted her work in the past. Helen recently reported from Bolivia on a fellowship with the International Reporting Project. Below is an excerpt of her report on Chagas disease in Latin America, and how it can spread to the States:

By: Helen Coster

Hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. could be infected with the deadly disease known as Chagas—and most of them don’t know

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The vinchuga bug, also known as “the kissing bug,” transmits Chagas disease. Image: Helen Coster.
If Maira Gutierrez hadn’t donated blood over a decade ago, she probably wouldn’t know that she has Chagas, a parasitic disease that may one day stop her heart. The Los Angeles resident felt fine. Only her blood sample, which contained the disease’s telltale antibodies, revealed that she was sick. Like many Chagas patients in the United States, Gutierrez probably contracted the disease as a child, when she was living in rural El Salvador. Today she suffers from heart palpitations and undergoes an annual echocardiogram and electrocardiogram to monitor the disease’s progress. “It’s a relief to know what I have, where it came from, and what it’s doing to me,” Gutierrez says. “I know that I’m not going to die tomorrow.”

Chagas is caused by a parasite called Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi) that remains dormant in peoples’ bodies for up to 30 years, until it kills them suddenly by stopping their hearts or rupturing their intestines. It’s a silent killer; patients rarely show symptoms or know that they’re infected. Worldwide, 18 million people have the disease. Chagas has been a scourge of the developing world for decades—particularly in poor Latin American countries, where a bug called the vinchuga, sometimes known as the kissing bug (because it bites people on their faces while they sleep), transmits the disease. But it’s increasingly becoming a U.S. health problem.

Click here to read the article in its entirety.

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Chagas Disease Has Now Gone Global

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Photo courtesy of CDC

Chagas disease was once confined to exotic places and areas of Latin America. The disease, however, has now ventured into the developing world via travel and immigration. A new paper published by the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases talks about how Chagas has spread from Latin America to other parts of the world, take a read:

“Chagas disease, caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, was once thought to be an exotic disease, confined to endemic areas of Latin America and hence of little importance to anyone outside of these endemic regions, including most physicians and scientists. The impact of the lack of physician awareness and lack of scientific attention is undefined, but may contribute to the continued neglect of Chagas disease and the affected populations. Despite historical evidence and growing recognition of the spread of Chagas disease, the prevention and control of this disease outside of Latin America is only now being addressed.”

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Millions in the Americans Are at Risk of Contracting Little-Known Disease

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By Ramon D’Bello, Pan American Health and Education Foundation (www.pahef.org)

While most of the Western world has never heard of Chagas disease, 200,000 new cases are reported every year and between 40 to 120 million people are at risk of infection in Latin America. Chagas disease is endemic in 21 Latin American countries and responsible for an average of 14,000 deaths each year. Estimates suggest that up to 11 million people are currently infected in the Americas.

How it Spreads

Trypanosoma cruzi, a parasite also known as T. cruzi, causes Chagas disease through vector-borne infection. Chagas disease is usually spread by the feces of insects called Triatomine bugs, commonly known as the “kissing” bug. The insects become infected after biting an infected animal or person. Once infected, insects become carriers and pass the disease parasites to their victims when it takes a blood meal and releases trypomastigotes in its feces near the site of the bite wound. Trypomastigotes enter the human body through the wound or through mucus membranes, such as the conjunctiva.

There are other means of transmission such as the consumption of food that has been contaminated by the Triatomine bugs, transplants, and in utero from a pregnant woman to her baby. People at highest risk of contracting the disease are often extremely poor and live in inadequate housing with little access to sanitation.

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