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Key facts
- About 8 million people worldwide, mostly in Latin America, are estimated to be infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas disease.
- T. Cruzi can be transmitted during pregnancy or birth (congenital) by triatomine bugs (vector-borne), orally (food-borne), as well as through blood/blood products (transfusional), organ transplantation and laboratory accidents.
- Chagas disease is curable if antiparasitic treatment is done early, in the acute phase. In chronic infection, the treatment and follow up can potentially prevent or curb disease progression and prevent transmission during pregnancy and birth.
- Without early diagnosis and treatment, up to a third of people with chronic infection develop cardiac alterations and 1 in 10 develop digestive, neurological or mixed alterations which may require specific treatment.
- Key strategies to prevent Chagas disease include testing and treating girls, women of reproductive age, newborns and siblings with the infection; insect vector control (in Latin America); blood screening prior to transfusion and transplantation; earliest possible diagnosis and comprehensive follow-up and health care; and information, education and communication in communities and for health professionals.
Chagas disease (also known as American trypanosomiasis)
Chagas disease, also known as American trypanosomiasis, is a potentially life-threatening illness caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi).
On 14 April this year, World Chagas Disease Day places women where they belong: at the heart of the attention.
For too long, women have been neglected and unfairly stigmatized as a “source of infection” for congenital Chagas disease—blamed for passing the parasite to their children. The reality is very different. The vast majority of women living with Chagas disease were infected the same way as their family and neighbours: for instance, through vector transmission by a triatomine bug, or by consuming contaminated food or drink. They are not the source of the problem—they are among its millions of overlooked victims.
Despite this, girls and women of childbearing age have been systematically neglected. They face a lack of information, education, and awareness, coupled with limited access to diagnosis and treatment. This leaves them at risk of developing cardiomyopathy and facing a high-risk pregnancy, or of transmitting the infection to their children. In addition, they receive limited support for the vital role they play in preventing and controlling Chagas disease at the family, home, and community levels. The consequences are severe: up to one-third of women with T. cruzi infection will develop cardiac alterations that can lead to cardiomyopathy, turning pregnancy into a high-risk event for both mother and child.
The facts demand action:
- About 2 million women aged 15-44 years are living with Trypanosoma cruzi infection worldwide.
- Transmission during pregnancy or birth occurs in about 3–5% of pregnancies and is now the principal route of infection in areas where vector transmission is controlled and at global level.
- If left untreated, one third of infected people—including women and the children they carry—will develop life-altering heart, digestive and even neurological conditions.
- Yet treatment of infected girls and women before pregnancy is practically 100% effective in preventing congenital transmission.
- And when infected newborns are diagnosed and treated in their first year of life, the cure rate exceeds 90%.
This World Chagas Disease Day, we call on health systems, policymakers, educational system, and communities to:
- Screen every at-risk girl and woman of childbearing age—before pregnancy.
- Treat all girls and women of childbearing age (before or between pregnancies) diagnosed with T. cruzi infection promptly and effectively, protecting their health and their future children.
- Test all newborns of mothers with infection, at least at birth and after 8 months, together with their siblings, ensuring no diagnosis of babies is missed.
- Promote the implementation of legal frameworks and protocols to increase the coverage of maternal and children health in relation to Chagas disease.
- Introduce health education components on maternal and child health components to increase awareness at community and family levels.
- Support women as the central partners they are in surveillance, prevention – in safe food preparation and stock to avoid foodborne transmission, in caring for affected family members, and in breaking the cycle of congenital transmission for good.
You are a health-care provider
How you talk about Chagas disease matters!
Instead of this…
Try this….
Women are not the source of Chagas disease. They are the heart of the response. When we support a woman, we protect her and the next generation.
