Overcoming research barriers in Chagas disease—designing effective implementation science

Chagas disease remains a substantial source of morbidity and mortality in Latin America. The Pan American Health Organization estimates that 8 million people are infected in this part of the world ( Uruguay (2006). In the United States, which has high rates of Hispanic immigration, about 300,000 people are infected (Bern and Montgomery 2009; Kuehn 2015). Chagas transmission occurs mainly through contact with a triatomine or the Bkissing bug^ which carries the parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi. Transmission also occurs orally through food contamination with vector’s feces, vertically (perinatal), from organ donation and blood transfusion. Acute infections may be associated with fever or swelling around the site of the inoculation. Parasites can be detected in the blood for a few weeks following initial infection. If patients are not treated, they can develop severe medical complications, and this happens in about 20–30 % of those infected. These complications typically present as cardiac abnormalities and can lead to death (Morillo et al. 2015).

• Autores: Henao Martínez, Andrés; Colborn, Kathryn; Parra Henao, Gabriel
• Tipo de recurso: Article of journal
• Fecha de publicación: 2016
• Institución: Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia
• Repositorio: Repositorio UCC
• OAI Identifier: oai:repository.ucc.edu.co:20.500.12494/945
• Acceso en línea: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12494/945
• Palabra clave: Chagas; Implementation science; Health policies
• Rights: openAccess
• License: Licencia CC