Chapter 1: Chagas disease: past, present and future
Hector Freilij
The agent
Chapter 2: Trypanosoma cruzi Journey from the Insect Vector to the Host Cell
Catalina D. Alba Soto and Stella M. González Cappa
Chapter 3: A panoramic view of the immune response to Trypanosoma cruzi infection
Gonzalo R. Acevedo, Magali C. Girard and Karina A. Gómez
Epidemiology
Chapter 4: Epidemiology of Chagas Disease
Roberto Chuit, Roberto Meiss and Roberto Salvatella
Chapter 5: Chagas Disease in Europe
Julio Alonso-Padilla, María Jesús Pinazo and Joaquim Gascón
Chapter 6: Chagas Disease in the United States (USA)
Melissa S Nolan, Kyndall Dye-Braumuller and Eva Clark
Diagnosis
Chapter 7: Diagnosis of Chagas disease
Alejandro O Luquetti and Alejandro G. Schijman
Clinical aspects
Chapter 8: Acute vector-borne Chagas disease
Guillermo Moscatelli and Samanta Moroni
Chapter 9: Congenital Chagas Disease
Jaime Altcheh
Chapter 10: Chronic Trypanosoma cruzi Infection:
Decision Making in the Midst of Uncertainty
Juan Carlos Villar and Pablo Andrés Bermudez
Chapter 11: Orally-Transmitted Chagas Disease: a Neglected Foodborne Infection
Belkisyolé Alarcón de Noya and Oscar Noya González
Chapter 12: Gastrointestinal Chagas Disease
Ênio Chaves de Oliveira, Alexandre Barcelos Morais da Silveira and Alejandro O. Luquetti
Chapter 13: Chagas in immunosuppressed patients
Adelina R. Riarte, Marisa L. Fernandez, Claudia Salgueira and Javier Altclas
Treatment
Chapter 14: CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY OF DRUGS FOR THE TREATMENT OF CHAGAS DISEASE
Facundo Garcia-Bournissen
Chapter 15: In vivo Drug Testing for Experimental Trypanosoma cruzi Infection
Julián Ernesto Nicolás Gulin
Chapter 16: Chagas Disease Treatment Efficacy Biomarkers: Myths and Realities
Elizabeth Ruiz Lancheros, Eric Chatelain and Momar Ndao
Dr. Jaime Marcelo Altcheh is head of the Parasitology Service and independent researcher at Ricardo Gutierrez Children’s hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Hector Freilij is a medical consultant at the same institution. Both are experts for tropical and especially trypanosomal diseases and have extensive worldwide collaborations and publications in international journals.
Chagas disease is a potentially life threatening condition that was historically mainly endemic to Latin America. Over the last decade, however, the disease has spread to and is increasingly prevalent in other continents such as North America and Europe, with an estimated 7 million people infected worldwide. It is primarily transmitted by insect vectors that carry the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, the disease agent. In areas where there is vector control and in non-endemic countries, it is mainly transmitted via congenital infection. Cardiac and gastrointestinal complications are common in untreated individuals.This book offers a comprehensive overview of Chagas disease, including its vectorial and congenital transmission, and molecular diagnosis, which is essential for screening, and developing and providing timely, effective anti-trypanosomal treatment. Written by experts working with infected patients on a daily basis, it discusses the pathogenesis of congenital, cardiac, gastrointestinal and oral Chagas disease, as well as its treatment and the pharmacological aspects of drug development in this area.
The chapter, ‘Chagas Disease Treatment Efficacy Biomarkers: Myths and Realities’ is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.