Chagas disease

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Antibodies

Kissing bug

American trypanosomiasis

The acute phase and reactivated Chagas disease should be treated. Infants born with the infection should also be treated.

Treating the chronic phase is recommended for both children and adults. Adult patients should talk to their doctor about whether to treat chronic Chagas disease.

Two drugs are used to treat this infection: benznidazole and nifurtimox.

Both drugs often have side effects. The side effects may be worse in older people.

Side effects may include:

• Headaches and dizziness
• Loss of appetite and weight loss
• Neuropathy
• Problems sleeping
• Skin rashes

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About 30% of infected people who are not treated will develop chronic or symptomatic Chagas disease. It may take more than 20 years from the time of the original infection to develop heart or digestive problems.

Abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias, ventricular tachycardia) may cause sudden death. Once heart failure develops, death usually occurs within several years.

• Cardiomyopathy
• Enlargement of the colon (megacolon)
• Enlargement of the esophagus (megaesophagus) with swallowing difficulty
• Heart disease
• Heart failure
• Malnutrition

Call for an appointment with your health care provider if you may be infected with Chagas disease.

Review Date: 09/15/2010
Reviewed By: David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc., and Jatin M. Vyas, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Assistant in Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org).