Chagas' Disease: Clinical course, latent period

If the patient survives the initial phase (which is usually the case), a latent period occurs of indeterminate duration. The patient is asymptomatic, seropositive and the parasitaemia is very low. Focal lesions are found in 60% of endomyocardial biopsies from patients in the latent phase. A positive xenodiagnosis can be obtained in 50% to 100% of these patients. For xenodiagnosis 10 to 40 non-infected bugs (e.g. Dipetalogaster maxima or Triatoma infestans) feed on blood from the patient. The faeces from these animals are investigated after 30, 60 and 90 days. In the event of immunosuppression there may be an acute flare-up, including meningo-encephalitis associated with AIDS or heart transplantation.

Category: Medicine Notes