The Control and Treatment of Chagas’ Disease

Introduction: Chagas’ disease currently affects 16 million people and 100 million people are thought to be at risk of contracting the disease. Of these 16 million people, 30% will develop debilitating lesions that characterise the incurable form of the disease. It is responsible for an economic loss to the endemic countries of South America of at least £4 billion/year. This type of economical loss combined with the financial benefits of effective control means that trypanosomiasis control is very high …

…requiring weekly/monthly checks. The Future? Some scientists think that the hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltranferase (HPRT) is a possible new site for antiparasite chemotherapy. The crystal structure of HPRT reveals a well-defined target useful in discovering new drugs against T. cruzi. [11] For other research please refer to The Future when considering Controlling Transmission of the disease. Conclusions: In my opinion all transfusions apart from congenital and via vector should be eradicated by the end of the decade.