As highlighted on TropIKA.net News the centenary of the discovery of Chagas disease is now being marked.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is one of the few agencies to take a particular interest in this disease. It has now launched a campaign, “Chagas: it’s time to break the silence”.

The lack of commercial incentives has pushed Chagas into oblivion,” said Gemma Ortiz, head of the MSF Chagas campaign. “New ways to boost R&D and better tools to care for patients need to be found.”

“One of the main problems we have is that for years patients have no symptoms so they do not know they are sick and receive no treatment,” explained Dr Nines Lima, MSF Chagas officer. “Active case detection is essential to find and treat infected people.”

The only two drugs available to treat the disease– benznidazol and nifurtimox – were developed over 35 years. Although these medicines are very effective in newborn and breastfeeding children, only about 60-70% of adolescents and adults are successfully treated. The older the patients are, the greater the likelihood they will experience side effects from the drugs. “Doctors do not treat children, let alone adults, for fear of side effects,” said Dr Tom Ellman, MSF Head of Mission in Bolivia, “We are showing that these effects are manageable in both cases. Leaving patients untreated is no longer ethical.”