News Release
Progress being made against deadly Chagas' Disease
Washington, January 13, 1997 - Progress is being made against the deadly "kissing bug" which causes Chagas' Disease and kills over 43,000 people a year in the Americas, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
In areas ranging from Mexico in the north to Argentina in the South, organized programs to control the disease are advancing, said Dr. Gabriel Schmunis, coordinator of PAHO's Communicable Diseases program. They have cut house infestation by the bug in Agentina by 75 percent, reduced infestation in Brazil from 711 municipalities to 83, and reduced infestation in Chile and Uruguay by 90 percent. House spraying is also underway in Bolivia, Paraguay and other countries, he added.
The "kissing bug", or triatomine, is a small winged insect that carries the Trypanosoma cruzi parasite. The bug makes its home in the crevices of dirt walls in rural dwellings, and drops on the faces of its victims, attracted by carbon dioxide. The insect feeds on victims' blood, leaving feces or urine contaminated with the T. cruzi parasites on its host's skin. When the victim scratches the bite, the parasite enters the blood stream. The insect is also called the "assassin bug" in some areas.
"Of the 205 million people in Latin America, four to five percent are infected with Chagas' Disease," says Dr. Schmunis. "It ranks very high in the group of diseases causing loss of life and disability, just behind acute respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, and HIV/AIDS." PAHO estimates that 16 to 18 million Latin Americans have been infected. Another two to three million have already developed chronic complications and about 43,000 will die this year. Most people are unaware they are infected and 10 or even 20 years later, they develop incurable lesions in the heart, intestine or nervous system. A recent health study in Honduras found that as many as 300,000 of the country's population were infected with the parasite. Officials say about 20 percent of those people will die.
"In very rare cases there is an acute stage of the disease which appears shortly after infection," said Dr. Fabio Zicker, an epidemiologist with PAHO's communicable disease program. During this early stage, the drugs nifurtimox or nitroimidazole can kill the parasite in the blood, according to a study he co-authored showing it is possible to cure the disease in the early stage of infection. PAHO is coordinating a Chagas' Disease eradication program, which began with the Southern Cone countries of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia in 1991. Some $207 million have been invested in control of the disease, with insecticide spraying and improved housing proving effective in reducing its incidence. Chagas is not new to Latin America. The disease was first identified in 1909 by Brazilian doctor Carlos Chagas.
Chagas can also be transmitted through blood transfusions and from mother to child, but PAHO is working with the countries to screen blood donors throughout the continent. Today blood donor screening is mandatory in many Central and South American countries. "All people donating blood are tested for Chagas and the prevalence among donors is down to 1.2 per cent," said Zicker, although prevalence is still high in some countries.
For more information Contact: Daniel Epstein, (202) 974-3459
Internet: http://www.paho.org Office
of Public Information, 525 23rd St., NW, Washington D.C. 20037,
Fax (202) 974-3143
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