Chagas disease

Description

Chagas disease (CHAH-gus) disease is a disease caused by infection with the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. The parasite is found in the feces of the triatomine bug. These errors are also called reduviid. Can also be known as "kissing bugs" because they tend to bite people's face.

Chagas disease is common in South America, Central America, and Mexico. Rarely, the disease has been found in the southern united States.

Also called American trypanosomiasis, Chagas disease canperfect anyone. Without treatment, the disease can cause serious heart and digestive problems.

During the first phase of the infection, the treatment of Chagas disease aims to kill the parasite. Later, it is not possible to kill the parasite. The treatment phase is on the management of symptoms. There are also ways to prevent infection.

Symptoms

Chagas disease can cause a sudden and brief illness. This type of illness is known as acute. Or it may become a long-term, chronic disease. Both stages can be free of symptoms. Or it may have life-threatening symptoms in any of the phases.

Acute phase

The acute phase of Chagas disease lasts for weeks or months. It often has no symptoms. If there are symptoms, most are mild. They may include:

  • Swelling of the infection ifyou.
  • Fever.
  • Fatigue.
  • Rash.
  • Pain in the body.
  • Swelling of the eyelid.
  • The pain of a headache.
  • Loss of appetite.
  • Nausea, diarrhea, or vomiting.
  • Inflammation of the glands.
  • A larger size of the liver or the spleen.

Symptoms that appear during the acute phase more often disappear by themselves. But if the infection is not treated, the disease remains in the body. Sometimes it passes into the chronic phase.

Chronic phase

The symptoms of the chronic phase of Chagas disease may appear 10 to 20 years after the infection starts. Or you may not have symptoms. In severe cases, Chagas symptoms of the disease may include:

  • Irregular beating of the heart.
  • Heart failure.
  • The sudden cardiac arrest.
  • Difficulty swallowing.
  • Stomach pain or difficulty passing stool, called constipation.

When to see a doctor

Consult your health care professional if you have been in an area where Chagas disease is widespread and has the symptoms of the condition.

Causes

The cause of Chagas disease is the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. The parasite is spread by an insect known as the triatomine bug, also called the "kissing bug." The parasite of the can infect these insects when you swallow the blood of an animal that is infected with the parasite.

The triatomine mainly live in the mud, straw and mud huts in Mexico, South America and Central America. They hide in crevices in the walls or in the ceiling during the day and night out. The errors that often feed on people while they sleep.

Insects infected poop, called the bowel movement, after the power. The feces of the leaves of the parasites in the skin. The parasites can then enter the body through the eyes, the mouth from a cut or scratch, or wound from the bug bite.

Scratching or rubbing the site of the bite, which often occurs during sleep, it helps the parasites enter the body. Once in the body, the parasites multiply and spread.

Chagas ' disease is not spread from being near an infected person. Buthim, the infection can come from:

  • Eating raw food that has feces of insects infected with the parasite.
  • Being born to a person who is infected with the parasite.
  • To get donors of blood or an organ of a person who was infected with the parasite.
  • Being exposed to the parasite, while working in a lab.
  • Spending time in an area where there is an infection of wild animals, such as raccoons and opossums.

Risk factors

The following factors may increase the risk of contracting Chagas disease:

  • Living in the rural areas of Central America, South America and Mexico.
  • Living in a building that has a triatomine.
  • Obtaining blood or an organ from a donor who has the infection.

It is rare for travelers to the at-risk areas in South America, Central America, and Mexico for the capture of Chagas disease. The because of the travelers tend to stay in the buildings, such as hotels, which are less likely to have Triatomine bugs. Triatomine bugs are most often found in places made of mud, adobe, or straw. But travellers should not eat salads, raw vegetables, unpeeled fruits.

Complications

If Chagas disease, is moved to the long-term, so-called chronic phase, there may be serious heart or digestive complications. These may include:

  • Heart failure. Heart failure occurs when the heart becomes too weak or stiff, it can't pump enough blood to meet the body's needs.
  • Enlarged tube through which food travels from the mouth to the stomach, called the esophagus. This rare condition called megaesophagus is caused by the expansion, called the dilation of the esophagus. This can cause problems with swallowing, and digestion.
  • Enlargement of the colon. This condition is called megacolon is caused by dilatation of the colon. Megacolon causes stomach pain, swelling, and difficulty having a bowel movement, called constipation.

Prevention

If you live in a high-risk area for Chagas disease, these steps can help prevent infection:

  • Don't sleep in a mud, thatched roof, or of the adobe house. These types of households are more likely to harbor triatomine bugs that are other types of buildings.
  • The use of the compensation soaked with bug killer, called insecticide, on the bed with the sides tucked in.
  • Use bug killers to eliminate the insects of a house.
  • The use of insect repellent on exposed skin.

Chagas disease

Diagnosis

Your healthcare professional is doing a physical exam, asking questions about your symptoms and any thing that put you at risk for Chagas disease. If you have symptoms of Chagas disease, two or more blood tests can confirm the diagnosis.

If you are diagnosed with Chagas disease, you are likely to have more tests. These tests can show whether the disease has become chronic and caused heart or digestive complications. Tests may include:

  • The electrocardiogram. This records the electrical activity of the heart.
  • X-ray of the chest. This imaging test can show an enlargement of the heart.
  • The echocardiogram. This test uses sound waves to capture moving images of the heart. The imagery can show changes in the heart or how it works.
  • Abdominal X-Ray. This test image shows the stomach, the intestines and the colon.
  • The upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. A thin, lighted tube called an endoscope enters the throat to display images of the esophagus.

Treatment

The treatment for Chagas disease is to kill the parasite and relieve the symptoms.

During the acute phase of Chagas disease, the drugs benznidazole and nifurtimox (Lampit) can help. Both drugs are offered in the regions most affected by Chagas disease. In the united States, medications are approved for the treatment of children under the age of 18 years with chronic infection.

Once the disease becomes chronic, the medications do not cure the disease. But medicines can be offered to help to slow the disease and its more severe complications.

Other treatment depends on the symptoms.

  • Heart-related complications. Treatment may include medications, a pacemaker or other devices withcontrol of the heart rate. The surgery, or even a heart transplant might be needed.
  • Digestive complications. The treatment can include diet changes, medications, and corticosteroids. In severe cases, surgery may be necessary.

Preparing for your appointment

You are likely to start by seeing your primary healthcare provider. You can then be sent to a specialist in infectious diseases.

Here's some information to help you prepare for your appointment.

What you can do

Make a list of:

  • Your symptoms and when they began.
  • Key personal information, including travel to other countries, the major stresses or recent life changes.
  • All the drugs, vitamins, and supplements you are taking, including dosage.
  • Questions to ask your health care professional.

For Chagas disease, some basic questions to ask include:

  • What is the most likely cause of my symptoms?
  • What tests do I need?
  • Is my condition likely to go away or to the last?
  • What treatments are there?
  • I have these other health conditions. How can I best manage these conditions?
  • I can pass this condition to others? Are those who traveled with me as likely to be infected?
  • Are there brochures or other printed material I can have? What websites do you suggest?

What to expect from your doctor

Your healthcare provider is likely to ask questions, including:

  • Make your symsymptoms come and go or are always with you?
  • How severe are the symptoms?
  • Is there something to improve the symptoms?
  • What, in any case, it makes your symptoms worse? You have lived or traveled in any place, such as Mexico, where the triatomine bug, or Chagas disease is common?
Symptoms and treatment of Chagas disease