Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsSymptomsCausesDiagnosisTreatmentPrevention
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Symptoms
Causes
Diagnosis
Treatment
Prevention
It’s estimated that around 8 million people in Latin America have Chagas disease, with most people unaware that they’re infected.
If it’s left untreated, Chagas disease can persist throughout life and cause serious heart and digestive issues.
© Verywell, 2018
Chagas Disease Symptoms
Chagas disease has two phases: the acute phase and the chronic phase. In each of these phases, the infection can cause mild symptoms or none at all, or it can cause life-threatening effects.
Acute Phase
The acute form of Chagas disease usually begins one to 16 weeks after you’ve been infected with theT. cruziparasite.Acute Chagas disease is generally a fairly mild illness, often with no symptoms at all.
Sometimes it causes flu-like symptoms, such as:
You may also notice these symptoms:
The acute symptoms can persist for weeks or months and usually resolve on their own, but the infection doesn’t go away without treatment.
This infection can progress to the chronic phase, causing life-threatening complications later—which is why treatment is important during the acute phase.
Heart Involvement:Sometimes acute Chagas disease can affect your heart.People with cardiac (heart) involvement have symptoms of acutemyocarditis(inflammation of the heart muscle), and may also have acutepericarditis(inflammation of the tissue around the heart).
Symptoms and signs of cardiac involvement may include:
Most often, the heart problems that are seen with acute Chagas disease resolve completely after a few months.However, some people with acute cardiac Chagas disease will progress rapidly to a chronic form ofheart failure, and around 5% die from cardiac disease during the acute phase of the illness.
Chronic Phase
If you have indeterminate Chagas disease, you appear and feel entirely normal, and you have a normal cardiac examination, including ECG and echocardiogram. However, blood testing will show that you have a chronic infection withT. cruzi. Many people stay in this latent phase with no symptoms for the rest of their lives.
The chronic phase of Chagas disease affects around 20 to 30% of people and can last for decades.
Signs and symptoms of severe or life-threatening chronic Chagas disease may include:
If you are in the chronic phase of Chagas disease, your lifetime risk of developing one or more of these heart or gastrointestinal complications is around 30%.
Chagas heart disease usually appears at least five years after the acute illness, and it may be delayed much longer than that.
Chagas heart disease is a very significant problem and often results in death or serious disability. In fact, next to coronary artery disease, Chagas disease is the most common cause of heart failure in Latin America.
T. cruzi parasites have also been found in guts of Reduviid bugs in the Southern United States, and transmission has rarely been reported to have occurred in the Southern US.
You can also get Chagas disease in the following ways:
What Is Chagas Disease?
If you think you might have Chagas disease, your healthcare provider will ask you about your symptoms and potential exposure to theT. cruziparasite and do a physical examination.They may also order a blood test to check for antibodies to the parasite, which can confirm or rule out whether or not you have Chagas disease.
Chagas Disease Doctor Discussion GuideGet our printable guide for your next doctor’s appointment to help you ask the right questions.Download PDFEmail AddressSign UpThank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up.There was an error. Please try again.
Get our printable guide for your next doctor’s appointment to help you ask the right questions.
Download PDF
Email AddressSign UpThank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up.There was an error. Please try again.
Sign Up
Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up.
There was an error. Please try again.
If your blood test is positive, your healthcare provider may do more testing to see if you’re in the active or chronic phase and if you have developed any complications. These additional tests may include an echocardiogram, electrocardiogram (EKG), chest X-ray, abdominal X-ray, or upper endoscopy.
The treatment of Chagas disease includes killing theT. cruziparasite and treating the signs and symptoms of any complications, like heart failure or cardiac arrhythmias.Acute Chagas disease, and early indeterminate Chagas disease are sometimes treated with antiparasitic drug therapy.
Benznidazole and nifurtimox are the two drugs that may be effective againstT. cruzi.
The evidence is sparse that treating adults who have the indeterminate or chronic forms of Chagas disease with antiparasitic therapy measurably improves the outcome.However, healthcare providers do give these drugs to people who are under 50 and have either the indeterminate or chronic form of Chagas disease because the drugs may slow down complications, though they won’t cure the disease.
Preventing Chagas disease is typically not a concern for Americans unless they are living in or traveling to rural Latin American countries.
If you are in a high-risk area, the following strategies can be beneficial:
A Word From Verywell
If you contract Chagas disease, don’t be alarmed. Most cases don’t require hospitalization. And if you get treatment right away, the disease can be cured. Even if you don’t realize you have the disease and end up in the chronic phase, treatment may still help, and you have more than a 70% chance of not developing any complications at all. If you do have a complication, your symptoms can be substantially reduced, your quality of life can be greatly improved and your survival can be prolonged with treatment.
18 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Bern C, Kjos S, Yabsley MJ, Montgomery SP.Trypanosoma cruzi and Chagas' Disease in the United States.Clin Microbiol Rev. 24(4):655–681. doi:10.1128/CMR.00005-11
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Chagas Disease.
Lewis MD, Kelly JM.Putting Infection Dynamics at the Heart of Chagas Disease.Trends Parasitol. 32(11):899–911. doi:10.1016/j.pt.2016.08.009
Andrade DV, Gollob KJ, Dutra WO.Acute chagas disease: new global challenges for an old neglected disease.PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2014;8(7):e3010. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0003010
Bonney KM.Chagas disease in the 21st century: a public health success or an emerging threat?.Parasite. 21:11. doi:10.1051/parasite/2014012
Bonney KM, Engman DM.Autoimmune pathogenesis of Chagas heart disease: looking back, looking ahead.Am J Pathol. 185(6):1537–1547. doi:10.1016/j.ajpath.2014.12.023
Machado FS, Jelicks LA, Kirchhoff LV, et al.Chagas heart disease: report on recent developments.Cardiol Rev. 20(2):53–65. doi:10.1097/CRD.0b013e31823efde2
Coura JR, Borges-pereira J.Chronic phase of Chagas disease: why should it be treated? A comprehensive review. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 106(6):641-5.
Rassi A Jr, Marin JA Neto, Rassi A.Chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy: a review of the main pathogenic mechanisms and the efficacy of aetiological treatment following the BENznidazole Evaluation for Interrupting Trypanosomiasis (BENEFIT) trial.Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 112(3):224–235. doi:10.1590/0074-02760160334
Bocchi EA.Heart failure in South America.Curr Cardiol Rev. 9(2):147–156. doi:10.2174/1573403X11309020007
Salm A, Gertsch J.Cultural perception of triatomine bugs and Chagas disease in Bolivia: a cross-sectional field study.Parasit Vectors. 2019;12(1):291. doi:10.1186/s13071-019-3546-0
Cevallos AM, Hernández R.Chagas' disease: pregnancy and congenital transmission.Biomed Res Int. 2014:401864. doi:10.1155/2014/401864
Balouz V, Agüero F, Buscaglia CA.Chagas Disease Diagnostic Applications: Present Knowledge and Future Steps.Adv Parasitol. 97:1–45. doi:10.1016/bs.apar.2016.10.001
Sánchez-Montalvá A, Salvador F, Rodríguez-Palomares J, et al.Chagas Cardiomyopathy: Usefulness of EKG and Echocardiogram in a Non-Endemic Country.PLoS One. 2016;11(6):e0157597. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0157597
Sales Junior PA, Molina I, Fonseca Murta SM, et al.Experimental and Clinical Treatment of Chagas Disease: A Review.Am J Trop Med Hyg. 97(5):1289–1303. doi:10.4269/ajtmh.16-0761
Meymandi S, Hernandez S, Park S, Sanchez DR, Forsyth C.Treatment of Chagas Disease in the United States.Curr Treat Options Infect Dis. 10(3):373–388. doi:10.1007/s40506-018-0170-z
Torrico F, Gascon J, Ortiz L, et al.Treatment of adult chronic indeterminate Chagas disease with benznidazole and three E1224 dosing regimens: a proof-of-concept, randomised, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet Infect Dis. 18(4):419-430.
Bern C.Chagas' Disease.The New England Journal of Medicine. 373:456–66. doi:10.1056/NEJMra1410150.Gali WL, Sarabanda AV, Baggio JM, et al.Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators for Treatment of Sustained Ventricular Arrhythmias in Patients With Chagas' Heart Disease: Comparison With a Control Group Treated With Amiodarone Alone.Europace.16(5):674–80. doi:10.1093/europace/eut422.Kirchhoff LV, Rassi A.Chagas Disease and African Trypanosomiasis. In: Kasper D, Fauci A, Hauser S, Longo D, Jameson J, Loscalzo J. eds.Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine, 19th ed.New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.Mayo Clinic Staff.Chagas Disease. Mayo Clinic.
Bern C.Chagas' Disease.The New England Journal of Medicine. 373:456–66. doi:10.1056/NEJMra1410150.
Gali WL, Sarabanda AV, Baggio JM, et al.Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators for Treatment of Sustained Ventricular Arrhythmias in Patients With Chagas' Heart Disease: Comparison With a Control Group Treated With Amiodarone Alone.Europace.16(5):674–80. doi:10.1093/europace/eut422.
Kirchhoff LV, Rassi A.Chagas Disease and African Trypanosomiasis. In: Kasper D, Fauci A, Hauser S, Longo D, Jameson J, Loscalzo J. eds.Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine, 19th ed.New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Mayo Clinic Staff.Chagas Disease. Mayo Clinic.
Meet Our Medical Expert Board
Share Feedback
Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit
Was this page helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit
What is your feedback?
