American trypanosomiasis

What it is

A tropical disease mainly found in latin America and transmitted by triatomine insects (mostly Triatoma infestans and Rhodnius prolixus and Panstrongylus megistus) harboring the hemoflagellate protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. The disease is characterized by an acute phase which is either asymptomatic or manifest with fever, inflammation at the inoculation site (inoculation chancre or chagoma), unilateral palpebral edema called the Romaña sign (when the triatomine bite occurs near the eye), enlarged lymph nodes, and splenomegaly. The chronic phase is lifelong and development of chagasic cardiomyopathy (30%; complex arrhythmias, heart failure, and thromboembolic events), digestive (10%; megaoesophagus and megacolon), neurological (10%; stroke, peripheral neuropathy and autonomic dysfunction), or mixed alterations (10%) may be observed. These can all lead to high morbidity and mortality rates.

Key facts

Prevalence

6-9 / 10 000 (United States)

Age of onset

All ages

Inheritance

Not applicable

Classified as

Disease

Prevalence figures describe populations, not individuals, and are often estimates from a single study. Where the figure is an incidence or a birth prevalence, it says so.

Signs and symptoms

These ranges are how often a sign appears across everyone diagnosed, not a prediction for one person — most people have some of these and not others. Orphanet also records findings that are specifically absent in this disease; those are in the data but not listed here.

ICD-10 codes

Related health topics

Reached through the ICD-10 categories this disease is filed under, so these describe the broader group rather than this disease specifically.

Cross-references