Should patients with chronic Chagas disease be treated with Antitrypanosomal drugs?

Treatment with antitrypanosomal drugs can cure CD in acute, congenital, and early chronic cases and provides improved clinical outcomes for chronic indeterminate cases. This treatment should be offered as early as possible, before advanced CCM develops.

Is benznidazole FDA approved?

On August 29, 2017, FDA approved benznidazole (Chemo Research, SL, in care of Exeltis) for treatment of Chagas disease in children aged 2–12 years§ (4). On May 14, 2018, the FDA-approved benznidazole product became commercially available through an exclusive distributor, Foundation Care.

What is benznidazole used for?

Benznidazole is an antibiotic that is used to treat Chagas disease in children ages 2 through 12 years. Chagas disease (also called American trypanosomiasis) is an infection caused by a parasite common to the areas of South America, Central America and Mexico.

Does Chagas need to be treated?

Today Chagas disease is treatable. Therapy is highly effective if given during the acute phase of the disease and less effective when administered during the chronic phase. This is why early diagnosis is so important.

How do you prevent Chagas?

Prevention

1. Avoid sleeping in a mud, thatch or adobe house. These types of residences are more likely to harbor triatomine bugs.
2. Use insecticide-soaked netting over your bed when sleeping in thatch, mud or adobe houses.
3. Use insecticides to remove insects from your residence.
4. Use insect repellent on exposed skin.

Who Chagas treatment?

Treatment. To kill the parasite, Chagas disease can be treated with benznidazole and also nifurtimox. Both medicines are nearly 100% effective in curing the disease if given soon after infection at the onset of the acute phase, including the cases of congenital transmission.

How do I get Benznidazole?

Physician requests for benznidazole should now be directed to the drug company Exeltis online at http://www.benznidazoletablets.com/en/, by telephone at 877-303-7181, or by e-mail at [email protected].

What are the side effects of nifurtimox?

The most common side effects of nifurtimox include the following:

• Anorexia and weight loss.
• Polyneuropathy.
• Nausea.
• Vomiting.
• Headache.
• Dizziness or vertigo.

Is metronidazole an antibiotic?

Metronidazole is an antibiotic. It’s used to treat skin infections, rosacea and mouth infections (including infected gums and dental abscesses). It’s used in the treatment of conditions such as bacterial vaginosis and pelvic inflammatory disease.

How long does Chagas disease last?

If untreated, infection is lifelong. Acute Chagas disease occurs immediately after infection, and can last up to a few weeks or months. During the acute phase, parasites may be found in the circulating blood. This phase of infection is usually mild or asymptomatic.

What bugs carry Chagas disease?

Triatomine bugs are a type of reduviid bug that can carry Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas disease.

How is Chagas disease detected?

The diagnosis of Chagas disease can be made by observation of the parasite in a blood smear by microscopic examination. A thick and thin blood smear are made and stained for visualization of parasites.

Is Chagas disease the ‘new AIDS’?

Chagas disease, caused by parasites transmitted to humans by blood-sucking insects, has been named “the new AIDS of the Americas” in a lengthy editorial published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

How do I get Chagas disease?

Congenital transmission (from a pregnant woman to her baby);

How deadly is Chagas disease?

Once infected, Chagas disease (also known as American trypanosomiasis) can go undetected for years, or even decades, during which time it can cause damage to the heart, intestines and esophagus . Cardiomyopathy and arrhythmias caused by the damage can eventually prove fatal. In some cases, a Chagas-enlarged heart or intestines can actually explode.

Is Chagas the new AIDS?

Chagas disease dubbed “The new AIDS of the Americas”. Chagas disease, a potentially deadly ailment that afflicts an estimated 8 to 11 million people worldwide, has been dubbed “the new AIDS of the Americas” in an editorial in the journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.