Tropical diseases encountered in Canada: 1. Chagas' disease.
Chagas' disease, or South American trypanosomiasis, is an endemic South American disease now being seen in Canada in both acute and chronic forms. It is characterized by an initial parasitemia that elicits a brisk immune response. Evidence is mounting that the debilitating chronic form, which is characterized by cardiac and visceral organ failure, results from antigenic cross-reactivity between the parasite and the human host, which generates an aberrant, destructive, cell-mediated immune response. Diagnosis, treatment and potential areas for investigation are discussed.
D000208:Acute Disease; D002170:Canada; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D014330:Tropical Medicine; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology