An Appraisal of the Status of Chagas Disease in the United States

Professor Rodrigo Zeledon is a retired professor in Medical Parasitology, Zoonotic Diseases at the University of Costa Rica. He graduated at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health as Doctor of Science, He published 5 books, 4 monographs, 15 book chapters and more than 240 papers on medical parasitology.Dr. Charles B. Beard is Chief Bacterial Diseases at the National Center for Infectious Diseases, Forl Collins, CO, USA and Associate Director for Climate Change, at the National center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Atlanta, CO, USA.

He holds a PhD in Medical Parasitology and Entology University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. He has an Experts appointment at the WHO, International Health Regulations Roster till June 2012.

David Leiby is Professor at the George Washington University, Department of Microbiology and Tropical Medicine. He is head of the Transmissible Diseases Department at the American Red Cross, Rockville, MD. He is co-chair of the Technical Group on Diagnostics test for screening and diagnosis of Trypanosoma cruzi Infections at WHO.Patricia L. Dorn, is Professor at the Department of Biological Science of the Loyola University in New Orleans.

This title critically reviews old and new literature, help to create greater awareness of the disease in the US and helps in the evaluation of certain epidemiological and public health issues.

During the first half of the 20th century, Chagas disease was assumed to be absent from the U.S. and considered an exotic disease, until the first two indigenous cases were discovered, almost simultaneously, in Texas, 1955. Since that time four indigenous cases have been documented in several places in the country. Although the disease is still considered uncommon in the US, this disease is not longer an exclusive Latin American illness.

Physicians in the US are often unaware of the characteristics of the diseases, and are likely overlooking locally acquired cases. The influx of an estimated 300,000 Latin American immigrants with the Chagas parasite means that there is an urgent need for physicians and public health officials to become aware.

Dedication

1. Introduction and historical background.

2. Triatomine vectors.

3. Animal reservoirs.

4. The parasite.

5. Prevalence of Chagas disease in human beings.

6. Final remarks.

Acknowledgements

References