Chagas Disease News and Research

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Chagas (pronounced SHA-gus) disease is named after the Brazilian physician Carlos Chagas, who discovered it in 1909. It is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, which is transmitted to animals and people by insect vectors that are found only in the Americas (mainly, in rural areas of Latin America where poverty is widespread). Chagas disease (T. cruzi infection) is also referred to as American trypanosomiasis.

People can become infected in various ways. In Chagas-endemic areas, the main way is through vectorborne transmission. The insect vectors are called triatomine bugs. These blood-sucking bugs get infected by biting an infected animal or person. Once infected, the bugs pass T. cruzi parasites in their feces. The bugs are found in houses made from materials such as mud, adobe, straw, and palm thatch. During the day, the bugs hide in crevices in the walls and roofs. During the night, when the inhabitants are sleeping, the bugs emerge. Because they tend to feed on people’s faces, triatomine bugs are also known as “kissing bugs.” After they bite and ingest blood, they defecate on the person. The person can become infected if T. cruzi parasites in the bug feces enter the body through mucous membranes or breaks in the skin. The unsuspecting, sleeping person may accidentally scratch or rub the feces into the bite wound, eyes, or mouth.

Ortho Clinical Diagnostics to showcase seven posters of vital tests, six products at AACC meeting

Ortho Clinical Diagnostics today announced it will present seven scientific posters on its assays and display six products at its booth at the 2016 American Association for Clinical Chemistry annual meeting.

30 Jul 2016

New multicomponent reactions to develop active compounds against sleeping sickness

Multicomponent reactions are protocols that ease the chemical synthesis of new compounds, and are particularly important to gain molecules with biological activity as therapeutic agents against several pathogens.

13 Jul 2016

GMU’s early-detection urine test works for Lyme disease, study shows

After three years and 300 patients, George Mason University researchers have proof that their early-detection urine test for Lyme disease works.

21 May 2016

Innovative HIV vaccine candidate generates protection against repeated AIDS virus exposures

Mymetics Corporation, a pioneer in the research and development of virosome-based vaccines to prevent transmission of human infectious diseases across mucosal membranes, announced today that its innovative HIV vaccine candidate has shown to generate significant protection in groups of twelve female monkeys against repeated AIDS virus exposures during part of the preclinical study.

11 Apr 2016

Humans can tolerate parasites responsible for sleeping sickness, Chagas disease, leishmaniasis

Humans can tolerate the parasites responsible for the sleeping sickness, Chagas disease and leishmaniasis for many years.

12 Feb 2016

UI researchers remind US doctors to watch for two diseases that could be passed from mother to child

While world health leaders race to contain the spread of the mosquito-borne Zika virus in the Americas, researchers at the University of Iowa are reminding doctors in the United States to be on the lookout for two other vector-borne and potentially life-threatening diseases that can be passed from mother to child through the placenta.

30 Jan 2016

UCSD Skaggs School of Pharmacy, Janssen R&D partner to identify new therapeutic targets for Chagas disease

Researchers at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of California, San Diego have entered into a research collaboration with Janssen Research & Development, LLC, one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, to identify new therapeutic targets for Chagas disease, a parasitic infection that is the leading cause of heart failure in Latin America.

8 Jan 2016

ISHLT issues new list of criteria to determine patient eligibility for heart transplant

To determine patient eligibility for heart transplant, the International Society for Heart Lung Transplantation maintains a list of criteria, first issued in 2006, that acts as a guideline for physicians.

7 Jan 2016

Study reveals promising mechanism for attacking Ebola virus

In late December, nearly two years after the epidemic began, the World Health Organization has declared the African country of Guinea to be free of Ebola virus infections. But, the race to find a cure and therapies to combat the disease are forging ahead as officials warn that inattention could lead to another epidemic.

5 Jan 2016

Simple diagnostic test can help fight deadly sleeping sickness

Scientists have developed a quick and simple diagnosis method, similar to a dipstick pregnancy test, to fight a deadly sleeping sickness.

16 Dec 2015

Researchers set up citizen science program to gain insight into triatomine insects in Texas

Chagas disease is caused by a parasitic protozoan (Trypanosoma cruzi) and transmitted via triatomine insects known locally in Texas as "kissing bugs". Due to the success of community based triatomine surveillance and collection in Central and South America, researchers from Texas A & M University set up a citizen science program to gain insight into the distribution and infection prevalence of triatomine insects in Texas.

11 Dec 2015

Experts call on U.S. and Mexican governments to reduce risk of Chagas disease

Chagas disease -- the third most common parasitic infection in the world -- affects approximately 7.5 million people, mostly in Latin America. To help reduce outbreaks of this disease in their countries, the United States and Mexican governments should implement a range of programs as well as fund research for the development of Chagas vaccines and treatments, according to a new policy brief by tropical-disease and science policy experts at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.

3 Nov 2015

Glycan binding proteins modify parasite infection in cells of the heart muscle

Chagas disease is the main cause of infectious heart disease in Latin America. Researchers from the INGEBI and IBYME Institutes in Argentina explored the effect of glycan binding protein interactions between the human host and Typanosoma cruzi parasite. They found that a glycan binding protein expressed in humans modified the infection in cells of the heart muscle, showing the importance of galectins in the response to parasite infection.

12 Oct 2015

UTHealth's Paula Stigler-Granados awarded grant to conduct outreach, education on Chagas disease in South Texas

A researcher at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health was awarded a five-year, $544,329 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct outreach and education on Chagas disease in South Texas.

14 Sep 2015

Deadly parasite that causes Chagas disease widespread in Texas bugs

A deadly parasite that causes Chagas disease is widespread in a common Texas insect, according to a new study by University of Texas at El Paso researchers. The finding suggests that the risk of Texans contracting the disease may be higher than previously thought.

10 Sep 2015

DNDi announces successful completion of SCYX-7158 Phase I study for treatment of sleeping sickness

The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) has announced today at the 9th European Congress on Tropical Medicine and International Health in Basel, Switzerland, the successful completion of Phase I human clinical trials for SCYX-7158 (AN5568), the first oral drug candidate specifically developed from the earliest drug discovery stage to combat human African trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness, a deadly parasitic disease transmitted by the tsetse fly.

9 Sep 2015

DNDi unveils plans to better respond to the needs of neglected patients

After having built the world's largest drug development pipeline for the most neglected diseases, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) has unveiled plans for a more flexible, dynamic portfolio approach, integrating various operating models to better respond to the needs of patients, notably in low- and middle-income countries. The plan also paves the way for new diseases to be taken up in DNDi's portfolio.

9 Sep 2015

Benznidazole has significant antiparasitic activity, but does not reduce progression of Chagas cardiomyopathy

A 40 to 80 day treatment with the antiparasitic medication benznidazole significantly reduced parasite activity in the blood, but not progression, of serious heart problems over a 5-year period among patients with established Chagas disease (CD) cardiomyopathy, results of the BENEFIT trial show.

1 Sep 2015

Cepheid, FIND unveil new portable molecular diagnostics system for patients suspected of TB, HIV and Ebola

Cepheid and FIND today unveiled the GeneXpert Omni, the world's most portable molecular diagnostics system enabling unprecedented access to accurate, fast and potentially life-saving diagnosis for patients suspected of TB, HIV and Ebola in even the most remote areas of the world.

28 Jul 2015

UC San Diego researchers receive NIH grant to test efficacy of Sanofi's pain drug in treating Chagas disease

The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded James McKerrow, MD, PhD, director of the University of California, San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, with a 2015 New Therapeutic Uses Award.

23 Jul 2015