Abstract

PALMEZANO DIAZ, Jorge Mario; PLAZAS REY, Lisette Katherine; RIVERA CASTILLO, Karina Esther  and  RUEDA ROJAS, Viviana Pahola. Chagas disease: reality of a frequent pathology in Santander, Colombia. Medicas UIS [online]. 2015, vol.28, n.1, pp.81-90. ISSN 0121-0319.

Introduction: the American Trypanosomiasis or Chagas disease is one of the parasitic diseases that has most epidemiological importance in Latin America and is transmitted by blood-sucking insects and it is caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. This disease presents itself in two important clinical phases: acute and chronic. Objective: submit an update on the Chagas disease, specifying key information like its definition, etiology, life cycle, epidemiology, diagnosis, clinical manifestations and treatment. Methodology: we reviewed a great amount of literature found in databases and virtual libraries such as: OvidSP, Medline, EBSCO host, Pubmed, Uptodate, New England Journal of Medicine, Cochrane and SciELO, using words like Chagas cardiomyopathy, Chagas disease, Trypanosoma cruzi, Insects. Discussion: the most common type of cardiac damage in chronic Chagas is the cardiomyopathy, whose clinical diagnosis and prognosis is linked to a continuous variety of monitoring methods such as echocardiography and electrocardiograms, for laboratory detection clinically necessary to identify the phase of the disease to select the diagnostic test be more sensitive. Now from a therapeutic point of view, there is a low amount of pharmacological alternatives for the eradication of the parasite, reason for which it is important to have prevention models for the Colombian population in general. Conclusion: understanding and knowing the disease in all its aspects is a fundamental tool in the creation of new prevention options and treatments to control this type of disease, which currently affects a big amount of the population found in urban areas all over the world but most importantly in Latin America, and this way helping improve the quality of life of each patient. MÉD.UIS. 2015;28(1):81-90

Keywords : Chagas Cardiomyopathy; Chagas Disease; Trypanosoma cruzi; Insects.

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