14 April: World Chagas Disease Day

• 15 Apr 2022

• The World Chagas Disease Day is observed on 14 April since 2020.
• It is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, which is transmitted to animals and people by insect vectors and is found only in the Americas (mainly, in rural areas of Latin America where poverty is widespread).
• Chagas disease, also known as "silent or silenced disease", affects mainly poor people without access to health care or people without a political voice.
• The disease progress slowly and often shows an asymptomatic clinical course. Without treatment, Chagas disease can lead to severe cardiac and digestive alterations and become fatal.
• The day has been named after Carlos Ribeiro Justiniano Chagas, the Brazilian doctor who diagnosed the first case on 14 April 1909.