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New guide introduced to improve diagnosis, treatment of Chagas Disease
With the aim of bridging the gaps that exist in the treatment of Chagas disease, the Pan American Health Organisation [PAHO] has introduced a new guide for diagnosis and treatment
According to PAHO, the new guide is one that will seek to provide clearer and more standardized procedures for improved care and treatment for every infected person.
The new guide was developed by notable experts in the field and is based on evidence assessed with the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation [GRADE] methodology, providing a synthesis of currently known and published evidence on the subject.
Currently, more than six million people in the Americas, Guyana included, live with Chagas disease, and PAHO has noted that most people living with this disease are even unaware that they are infected.
PAHO, Guyana’s technical partner in health, has disclosed that an estimated 28,000 new cases of this disease result each year from vector transmission, with an additional 8,000 resulting from congenital transmission.
Chagas disease, or American trypanosomiasis, is caused by the Trypanosoma cruzi [Triatomine] parasite and can be transmitted by insects, through blood transfusions from mother to child during pregnancy or childbirth and by food. 
Consequently, some 65 million people living in 21 endemic countries of the Americas are at risk of contracting Chagas disease, a parasitic infection that claims some 12,000 lives in the region every year.
With the new guide [which is currently only available in Spanish] in place, it is expected that health sectors in the Americas will be better positioned to improve detection and management of the disease.
In addition to this significant negative public health impact in the Americas, Chagas also has the potential to spread to other continents via congenital transmission and blood transfusions, according to PAHO.
Despite this persisting Chagas challenge, many health personnel in the Region have typically faced the problem with little information and minimal training on timely and adequate diagnosis and treatment, including comprehensive clinical management.
The new guide therefore has the tactical goal of contributing to better health for patients, their families and entire communities.
Chagas disease can be transmitted by insects. When someone is bitten by a bug they tend to leave faeces on the individual. As the person scratches the area affected they introduce the parasites to the wound, mouth or eyes this allowing the parasites to enter the body.
Other less conventional ways of contracting Chagas disease can be through blood transfusions from infected donors, mother to child transmission [infected mother that has delivered her newborn baby], organ transplant [organ from an infected donor] and laboratory accidents.
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