Although new Chagas disease (CD) cases have decreased in the last decades through control of vector-borne and blood transfusion transmission, around 3,7 million Brazilians still live chronically affected by this disease. As around 30-40% of this population presents the cardiac form (CCC), and heart failure (HF) is present in about 10% of those with CCC, CD is a major cause of HF in endemic countries, ranging from 4% to 50%.– The paper by Silva et al. adds important updated epidemiological […]

Chagas disease is currently classified as one of several neglected tropical diseases and as one of the five neglected parasitic infections prioritized by the World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control for public health intervention. This underscores the fact that the causative agent of American trypanosomiasis has existed for approximately 9.000 years, with positive samples dating back to 7050 B.C. The life cycle of Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi) comprises several morphological transformations involving both mammalian and vector hosts, […]

Factors that may explain the results One possible explanation for the lack of significant difference in prognosis between patients with and without Chagas disease may be related to improvements in clinical management and the structuring of health care for this population over the past few years., The study was conducted in a tertiary referral center, with likely access to cutting-edge technology and specialized monitoring. Specialized outpatient follow-up programs and adherence to recommended treatments may have reduced the disparities in outcomes […]

Short Editorial related to the article: Exercise Training Reduces Inflammation and Fibrosis and Preserves Myocardial Function and Perfusion in a Model of Chronic Chagas Cardiomyopathy Chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy results from infection with Trypanosoma cruzi, transmitted by triatomine insects. The disease, endemic in Latin America, affects millions of individuals worldwide. In recent decades, the increase in migration has elevated the number of infected people in non-endemic regions from Europe and the United States. Chagas disease remains a neglected disease, characterized by […]

After the successful control of vector and transfusion transmission of Chagas disease (CD) in Brazil and other endemic countries in Latin America, the current challenge is the control of congenital transmission of the disease. However, we still have a large contingent of people infected with Trypanosoma cruzi in the chronic form, estimated at around 3.7 million individuals in Brazil alone, with approximately 590,000 of them being women of childbearing age. Two treatment guidelines for CD were produced by the Pan […]

Chagas cardiomyopathy (ChC) is a chronic infectious heart disease that has recently been considered an infectious arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy according to the HRS statement on this subject. After an acute phase, patients become chronically infected, displaying a wide range of presentations concerning heart disease, including heart failure, stroke, conduction abnormalities, atrial fibrillation, and ventricular arrhythmia. Sudden death is a mode of death of most patients with ChC, and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) has been used as a preferred therapy, at least for […]