Guilherme Dantas Campos Pinto et al. José Henrique Martins Pimentel Maria das Neves Dantas da Silveira Barros Carolina de Araújo Medeiros … Cristina de Fátima Velloso Carrazzone Silvia Marinho Matins Wilson Alves de Oliveira Júnior
Introduction
Chagas disease (CD) is classically reported as a neglected disease of vectorial transmission and is endemic in 21 Latin America countries. While it has long been stigmatized as a mere tropical pathology, CD has recently gained prominence, since new means of infection have become more common, including blood transmission and consumption of food contaminated with feces from a given vector. Taking immigration into account, the disease is currently spreading beyond the limits of endemic areas and has become a global issue.
Many acute CD (ACD) outbreaks have been reported since 1965, by oral accidental routes, in Brazil and in other Latin American countries. , That phase of the disease is, in general, asymptomatic or presents unspecific symptoms, such as fever, fatigue, myalgia, facial and lower limb edema, abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, and dyspnea. One to five percent of the patients develop severe disease, most commonly perimyocarditis, acute heart failure, and/or meningoencephalitis, with a mortality rate of around 5%. ,
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