It has an unusual name – due to the surname of its founder – but the insidious Latin-American Chagas disease now threatens as many as a 1,000 people in Portugal.
It cannot be ignored, an expert in tropical diseases announced in commemoration of World Health Day for vector-borne diseases this week.
João Seixas, the director of Lisbon’s Institute for Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (IHMT), says cases of Chagas disease, which is caused by the Trypanosoma cruzi parasite, have been growing in Portugal for the last decade as immigrants arrive from Latin-American countries like Brazil and Venezuela.
Although the ‘kissing insect’ that spreads the disease doesn’t exist in Europe, pregnant mothers can carry Chagas, infecting children – and nothing in Portugal is designed to tackle the threat.
Right now, Portugal could have “at least” 1,000 dormant cases of the disease carried by Latin-American immigrants, warns Seixas.
Talking to Jornal i, the researcher said risks extend to blood donations and organ transplants – as health authorities, in not looking for the disease, have no way of stopping it.
Chagas is a slow-moving parasite that can, in certain cases, cause death. It can lie dormant within a host for decades – all the time damaging organs and overall health.
Calling for the disease to be properly recognised and tested for, Seixas says now is the time for health authorities to act. “We have to think of it (the disease) as the sword of Damocles hanging over these patients,” he remarked.
IHMT is now putting pressure on the Portuguese transplant institute to start testing Latin-American immigrants for Chagas. Meantime, the World Health Organisation has said it is willing to give Portugal Chagas testing kits, writes Jornal i.
