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Diagnosis of Trypanosoma cruzi Infection: Challenges on Laboratory Tests Development and Applications

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Chagas Disease

Abstract

Insufficient access to diagnosis is yet a major issue to control Chagas disease. Therefore, there is an urgent need of more practical diagnostics and/or diagnostic algorithms that better suit the demands and field conditions, mainly of endemic regions. Such diagnostics should be made available not only to easily detect acute and chronic cases of T. cruzi infection, but also to inform on treatment efficacy and on the evolution of transplanted patients. In this chapter, we first provide a description of the laboratory techniques used for the diagnosis of the disease. We then point out the latest research advancements in the field. Ultimately, we discuss on whether the implementation of these advancements could aid to overcome the challenges faced today by currently available tools in endemic and non-endemic settings.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Parasitology, Department of Biology, Healthcare and the Environment, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Montserrat Gállego

  2. Chagas, Parasitic and Imported Disease, Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Hospital Clínic - University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Montserrat Gállego

  3. Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Chagas Disease (LaBMECh), Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular “Dr Hector Torres” (INGEBI-CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Alejandro G. Schijman

  4. Chagas, Parasitic and Imported Disease, Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Hospital Clínic - University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Julio Alonso-Padilla

Authors
  1. Montserrat Gállego
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  2. Alejandro G. Schijman
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  3. Julio Alonso-Padilla
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Julio Alonso-Padilla .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain

    María-Jesús Pinazo Delgado

  2. Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain

    Joaquim Gascón

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Gállego, M., Schijman, A.G., Alonso-Padilla, J. (2020). Diagnosis of Trypanosoma cruzi Infection: Challenges on Laboratory Tests Development and Applications. In: Pinazo Delgado, MJ., Gascón, J. (eds) Chagas Disease. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44054-1_5

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