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WHO launches campaign to eliminate Kissing Bug disease

The World Health Organisation (WHO) today launched its campaign to eliminate the Chagas disease by 2010.

Geneva, July 4 : The World Health Organisation (WHO) today launched its campaign to eliminate the Chagas disease by 2010.

The strategy is designed to answer key questions about the treatment and control of Chagas disease, and to coordinate global efforts toward the prevention of transmission through a new Global Network for Chagas Elimination.

"The establishment of the WHO Global Network to combat Chagas disease occurs in the broader context of the WHO's renewed fight against neglected tropical diseases. While Chagas disease is controlled in many countries in the Americas, commitment must be strengthened as elimination of the disease is now attainable, " said Dr Margaret Chan, Director- General, WHO.

Chagas disease is a serious, potentially life-threatening illness caused by a protozoan parasite called T. cruzi. Early symptoms can include fever, fatigue, swollen glands and heart pain, but in later years the infection can lead to chronic debilitation caused by progressive destruction of the heart muscle.

The parasite that causes Chagas disease is called T. cruzi and is mainly transmitted by large blood-sucking insects, sometimes known as 'kissing bugs', that often colonise the homes of poorer rural communities in Latin America. But the parasite can also be transmitted by blood transfusion or organ transplant from infected donors, and occasionally by transplacental passage from infected mother to new-born baby. In some regions, particularly in the southern cone countries of South America, the chronic infection can also give rise to severe intestinal problems requiring complex corrective surgery.

It occurs mainly in Latin America where, during the 1980s, over 20 million people were thought to be infected.

Since then, Latin American countries have made enormous efforts to control the infection, such that current estimates suggest that less than eight million people remain infected.

However, the infection is no longer confined to the Americas because of blood transmission and organ transplantation. Cases have been identified in non-endemic countries in Europe, and in Canada and the United States.

The WHO Global Network for eliminating Chagas will focus on the following:

-Strengthening epidemiological surveillance and information systems;

-Preventing transmission by blood transfusion and organ transplantation in endemic and non-endemic countries;

-Identifying a diagnostic test(s) for screening and diagnosis of infections;

-Expanding secondary prevention of congenital transmission and case management of congenital and non-congenital infections;

-Promoting a consensus on adequate case management

In keeping with the goal of eliminating Chagas disease by 2010, the WHO Global Network will develop a five pillar strategy before the end of this year.

ANI