chagas' disease

Cha·gas' disease   (shä'gəs)    n.  A South American form of trypanosomiasis caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi that is characterized by fever and enlargement of the spleen and lymph nodes. [After Carlos Chagas (1879-1934), Brazilian physician.]

Main Entry: Cha·gas' disease
Pronunciation: 'shäg-&s-(&z-)
Function: noun
: a tropical American disease that is caused by a protozoan ofthe genus Trypanosoma (T. cruzi) transmitted by reduviid bugs especially of the genus Triatoma, that has an acute form primarily affecting children and marked by chagoma, fever,edema, enlargement of the spleen, liver, and lymph nodes, and sometimes by myocarditis, and that also has a chronic form which may or may not follow an acute episode, progresses over time, and ismarked especially by cardiac and gastrointestinal complications (as myocarditis, ventricular hypertrophy, megacolon, or megaesophagus)
Chagas, Carlos Ribeiro Justiniano(1879–1934), Brazilian physician. Early in his career Chagas undertook a malaria control campaign that used pyrethrum to disinfect households and that proved to be the first successfulcampaign against malaria in the history of Brazil. During 1909–10 Chagas discovered and described the disease named after him. He discovered that it is caused by a species of trypanosometransmitted by bloodsucking reduviid bugs and that it is manifested by fever and edema and later by cardiac disturbances. He also described its epidemiology and some of its pathogenic hosts.

Chagas' disease

infection with the flagellate protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. It is transmitted to humans by bloodsucking reduviid bugs and is endemic in most rural areas of Central and South America. The disease is most often transmitted by contact with the feces of infected insects, commonly through scratching of the skin at the site of the insects' bites, or through the mucous membranes of the eye and mouth. About a week following inoculation, local signs appear, including edema (swelling) and lymph node enlargement; the patient may have fever and prostration for several weeks. The disease may then enter a chronic stage, characterized chiefly by heart symptoms, mainly disturbances of the rhythm; heart failure sometimes occurs because of the development of the parasite in the muscle fibres of the heart and because of the accompanying inflammatory reaction. The infection may end in death, especially in children, or the course may be mild. Nifurtimox is the drug of choice for treating acute T. cruzi infections, though benznidazole is an alternative agent. There is no effective treatment for chronic infections. Prevention is centred on control of the insect carrier and screening of the blood supply to avoid transfusion of infected blood

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