Chagas disease

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Antibodies

Kissing bug

American trypanosomiasis

The acute phase should be treated. Benznidazole has been shown to be effective. Experimental treatment may include nifurtimox. Treating the chronic phase with antibiotics is not helpful. Instead, the symptoms of heart and intestinal disease should be treated.

Approximately 30% of infected and untreated people will develop chronic or symptomatic Chagas disease. It may take more than 20 years from the time of the original infection to develop heart or digestive problems.

Abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias, ventricular tachycardia) may cause sudden death. Once congestive heart failure develops, death usually occurs within several years.

• Cardiomyopathy
• Congestive heart failure
• Enlargement of the esophagus (megaesophagus) with swallowing difficulty
• Enlargement of the colon (megacolon) with constipation and abdominal pain

Call for an appointment with your health care provider if symptoms suggestive of Chagas disease develop.

Review Date: 09/25/2006
Reviewed By: Charlotte Grayson, MD, Private Practice specializing in Internal Medicine and Infectious Disease, Smyrna, GA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.