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Chagas Disease

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Neglected Tropical Diseases - Latin America and the Caribbean

Part of the book series: Neglected Tropical Diseases ((NTD))

Abstract

In 1909, the Brazilian physician Carlos Chagas described a new pathogen―Trypanosoma cruzi―and an entirely new disease to the scientific community that was subsequently shown to cause serious cardiac and gastrointestinal problems. Far from being a rare nosological entity, Chagas disease was later found to affect millions of people across Latin America. The analysis of South American mummies in paleoparasitological studies indicated, however, that Chagas disease affected humans at least 9,000 years ago. Within a few years, Carlos Chagas and some of his close collaborators—including Gaspar Vianna, Belisário Penna, Eurico Villela, and Ezequiel Dias—described the main anatomopathological and clinical aspects of the disease in its acute and chronic phases. Despite the undeniable success and singularity of these preliminary investigations, Chagas disease was neglected by the medical and scientific community for long periods of the twentieth century. The diagnosis, clinical manifestations, and prognosis, as well as the significant gaps in the understanding of the pathogenesis of cardiovascular involvement, and in the management of the disease, will be discussed in this chapter.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Katrina Phillips for her comments, careful review, and editing of the text.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cardiology, Anis Rassi Hospital, Avenida José Alves 453, Setor Oeste, 74110-020, Goiânia, Brazil

    Anis Rassi Jr & Anis Rassi

  2. Division of Cardiology, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil

    Jose Antonio Marin-Neto

Authors
  1. Anis Rassi Jr
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  2. Anis Rassi
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  3. Jose Antonio Marin-Neto
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Correspondence to Anis Rassi Jr .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Infectious Diseases, Hospital Infantil de México, Federico Gómez, México D.F., Mexico

    Carlos Franco-Paredes

  2. Unidad de Medicina Experimental, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México D.F., Mexico

    José Ignacio Santos-Preciado

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Rassi, A., Rassi, A., Marin-Neto, J.A. (2015). Chagas Disease. In: Franco-Paredes, C., Santos-Preciado, J. (eds) Neglected Tropical Diseases - Latin America and the Caribbean. Neglected Tropical Diseases. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-1422-3_3

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