Ageing with Trypanosoma cruzi infection in a community where the transmission has been interrupted: the Bambui Health and Ageing Study (BHAS) (original) (raw)
2001, International Journal of Epidemiology
Chagas' disease is a chronic disease caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, which is transmitted by a triatomine bug and also by blood transfusion and transplacentally. The infection may cause an acute self-limited disease, which evolves to a symptomless period. Several years after infection about 30% of individuals present clinical evidence of heart disease, and around 8% develop megavisceras. 1 It is estimated that 16-18 million people are currently infected in South and Central America. 2 Infection is thought to be lifelong though detection of parasitaemia during the chronic phase is very difficult. 3 Thus, its diagnosis is based mainly on the detection of serum antibodies to T. cruzi using serological tests. 4 The effect of treatment during the chronic phase is controversial. Early clinical trials did not show any effect of treatment in preventing the development of chronic Chagas' disease in adults. More recent findings suggest that treatment may be effective in producing negative seroconversion of specific antibodies in schoolchildren treated during the first year of infection. 1 The Chagas' Disease Control Programme in Brazil is based on control of the triatomine bug. This programme began on a national scale in the mid-1970s and mortality and hospitalizations due to Chagas' disease have been declining since then. 5 In addition,