Title
Recommendations for Screening and Diagnosis of Chagas Disease in the United States
Date Issued
01 May 2022
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Forsyth C.J.
Manne-Goehler J.
Bern C.
Whitman J.
Hochberg N.S.
Edwards M.
Marcus R.
Beatty N.L.
Coyle C.
Granados P.S.
Hamer D.
Maguire J.H.
Meymandi S.
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Publisher(s)
Oxford University Press
Abstract
Background: Chagas disease affects an estimated 326 000-347 000 people in the United States and is severely underdiagnosed. Lack of awareness and clarity regarding screening and diagnosis is a key barrier. This article provides straightforward recommendations, with the goal of simplifying identification and testing of people at risk for US healthcare providers. Methods: A multidisciplinary working group of clinicians and researchers with expertise in Chagas disease agreed on 6 main questions, and developed recommendations based on the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology, after reviewing the relevant literature on Chagas disease in the United States. Results: Individuals who were born or resided for prolonged time periods in endemic countries of Mexico and Central and South America should be tested for Trypanosoma cruzi infection, and family members of people who test positive should be screened. Women of childbearing age with risk factors and infants born to seropositive mothers deserve special consideration due to the risk of vertical transmission. Diagnostic testing for chronic T. cruzi infection should be conducted using 2 distinct assays. Conclusions: Increasing provider-directed screening for T. cruzi infection is key to addressing this neglected public health challenge in the United States.
Start page
1601
End page
1610
Volume
225
Issue
9
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
ParasitologÃa
Enfermedades infecciosas
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85124877581
PubMed ID
Source
Journal of Infectious Diseases
ISSN of the container
00221899
Sponsor(s)
This work was supported by Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (funding for travel and meetings); the Mundo Sano Foundation (grant number AWD08818 to N. B.); Infectious Diseases Society of America Foundation (grant number AWD10100 to N. B.); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Parasitic Diseases Branch for Chagas (grant number NU2GGH002323 to P. S., grant number NU2GGH002322-01-00 to N. H., and grant number NU2GGH002322-01-00 to D. H. for disease education and screening activities, and grant number NU2GGH002321 to C. C. and grant number 5NU2GGH001649 to M. E. for disease prevention and control activities); and Texas State University (to M. E. for screening of newborns for Chagas disease).
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción CientÃfica
Scopus