The Control and Treatment of Chagas' Disease
Chagas' disease currently affects 16 million people and 100 million people are thought to be at risk of contracting the disease. Of these 16 million people, 30% will develop debilitating lesions that characterise the incurable form of the disease. It is responsible for an economic loss to the endemic countries of South America of at least L4 billion/year. This type of economical loss combined with the financial benefits of effective control means that trypanosomiasis control is very high on the agenda for Latin American governments. [1] Chagas' disease has only recently been recognised as the most serious parasitic disease of the Americas; their social & economic impacts outweigh the combined effects of other parasitic diseases such as Malaria, Schistosomiasis and Leishmaniasis [5]. In 1991 a program, known as the "Southern Cone Initiative", was created and it is the organisation currently responsible for eliminating transmission of the parasite responsible for transmission. Figure 1 shows which are the Southern Cone Countries, and gives us a clue to how widespread the disease is. [2] & [3] Carlos Chagas, who discovered the disease in 1909, knew that; 1. People living in poor housing conditions
Dias understood that the transmission of T. In this way, unnecessary means of contracting the disease are avoided. At the secondary level are interventions designed to prevent/inhibit disease in cases where infection has occurred and this is what treatment of the Chagas' involves [4] & [5]. cruzi infecting people via accidents in the laboratory. The Attack Phase consists of large-scale spraying of all premises in the target area. If infection occurs, treat the patient with the usual drugs (discussed later). Education After the vector has been wiped altogether from a dwelling, to render the houses less amenable to bug infestations, one must improve houses' conditions. Figure 1 Control:Definition: Control is a means designed to prevent transmission. So before discussing control strategies, modes of transmission will be shown by Table 0:Table 0:Mode of Transmission Example % of Transmission it Accounts For: Relative importance:Via a Vector T. If infection does occur, one can treat patients as non-acute patients. In addition, labs can have a restrictive access, and other measures such as wearing gloves and protective glasses can be implemented. This is likely to occur through a national program as usually people living in endemic areas do not have the money to do this by themselves.
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