Chagas disease confirmed as 'silent killer' in first large-scale US survey
April 14, 2017 at 3:58 AM
A study of almost 5,000 Latin American-born residents of Los Angeles County found that 1.24% tested positive for Chagas disease, a parasitic infection that can cause life-threatening heart damage if not treated early. Chagas disease is one of the leading causes of heart failure in Latin America.
This is the first epidemiological study to back up the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) estimate that approximately 300,000 people are living with this disease in the United States. The parasite that causes Chagas disease, Trypanosoma cruzi, is transmitted mainly by the bite of the triatomine bug, which is found throughout the Americas. Roughly 30% of those infected will develop serious cardiac, digestive, or neurological disorders. The disease is not generally transmitted from person-to-person.
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20170414/Chagas-disease-confirmed-as-silent-killer-in-first-large-scale-US-survey.aspx
