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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