Mal di Chagas: un problema emergente di salute pubblica in Italia?

La malattia di Chagas \ue8 una infezione parassitariaendemica nel continente americano che interessacirca 16-18 milioni di persone.Considerando una percentuale pari al 9.5% di im-migrati latino-americani in Italia, e le vie di tra-smissione non vettoriale, per via congenita, trasfusione di sangue e trapianto di organi, si concludeche la malattia di Chagas rappresenti oggi un pro- blema emergente di salute pubblica anche in Italia. Linee guida e protocolli specifici sembrano necessari per una adeguata prevenzione, diagnosi e trattamento

Flussi migratori e nuove patologie di importazione: la cardiomiopatia chagasica cronica

Chagas disease, caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, is transmitted by triatomine bugs in endemic regions of the American continent and less frequently by blood transfusion and congenital transmission. Immigration rates explain why the disease can be found worldwide. Non-endemic countries that receive a significant amount of Latin American immigrants should be familiarized with the disease to allow prevention, diagnosis and early treatment. In Italy, where no serologic screening is routinely performed to detect Trypanosoma cruzi in blood donations, a special consideration must be held. Accordingly, attention to congenital transmissions of the disease should be drawn considering the lack of newborn screening. Though commonly unrecognized, chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy is the most common type of chronic myocarditis in the world