Chagasen gaixotasuna Europan, endemikoa ez izan arren kontuan hartzekoa

Abstract

Chagas disease, also known as American trypanosomiasis, is a chronic, systemic, parasitic infection caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. The Brazilian physician Carlos Chagas discovered it in 1909 and it is endemic to Latin America, especially to its rural areas. In the last 40 years, it has become a global health problem due to migration flows from Latin America to Europe, the United States, Canada and Japan. In this paper, we review the traits of this disease in Europe and the measures to prevent and control it. In non-endemic areas such as Europe, the routes for transmission of the parasite can be congenital (from the mother to the fetus), organ transplants and blood transfusions. In Europe, most immigrants from endemic areas are in Spain, Italy, France, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. The combined seroprevalence studies carried out in Europe show a general prevalence of 4.2% and the highest prevalence corresponds to those born in Bolivia (18.1%). Nevertheless, most European countries disregard the disease, as evidenced by the lack of detection programs and scarce adequate diagnosis and treatment options. European countries with most Latin American immigrants have changed their legislation and developed different protocols for action; but these measures are insufficient because they do not prevent future transmission cases. Finally, regarding epidemiology, most patients are asymptomatic middle-aged women and some of them will develop the phase characterized with organic damage, when treatment is not effective. Therefore, early detection is essential to avoid future problems of the health systems.