By Luis E. Mendoza
Image: hablemosdechagas
Every April 14 the International Day of People Affected by Chagas Disease is celebrated. However, what few know is that this date also commemorates the discovery of this disease by the Brazilian biologist Carlos Chagas.
This article will share relevant information about Chagas disease, as well as collaborative work between the Center for Research on Health in Latin America (CISeAL), from PUCE, and the Infectious and Tropical Diseases Institute (ITDI), from Ohio University in order to prevent and control this disease.
The people affected by Chagas disease will claim this 14th of April as World Chagas Day in the hope of increasing global awareness, and building on the progress already made against this disease, which has been neglected for more than one century.
11 April 2019.
The International Federation of Associations of People Affected by Chagas disease (FINDECHAGAS) has launched an online petition through the platform change.org (Link) in support of the official declaration of April 14th as their World Day. This proposal will be tabled at the 72nd World Health Assembly, to be held in Geneva at the end of May 2019. The particular date has been chosen because on that same day, 110 years ago, the Brazilian doctor Carlos Chagas confirmed the first case of the disease in a child, called Berenice Soares.
The official recognition of this anniversary in the global calendar of World Days will raise the visibility of this global health challenge, which forms part of the list of neglected tropical diseases, according to the classification of the World Health Organization (WHO). FINDECHAGAS aims to engage governments and health decision makers to encourage them to take sustainable political actions in order to overcome numerous barriers regarding access to diagnosis and treatment, as well as to increase visibility and awareness about the stigmatization and discrimination suffered by people affected by the disease.
By Luis E. Mendoza
A recent research of the group of medical entomology from CISeAL, led by Dr. Anita Villacís, has just been published on Parasites & Vectors Journal (BioMed Central). The research (Triatominae: does the shape change of non-viable eggs compromise species recognition?) seeks to offer a new characterization of viable and non-viable eggs of four species of Ecuadorian Triatomines, insects responsible of the transmission of Chagas disease.
December 3, 2018
PUCE students during field trip.
In a coordinated effort between the Public Health Institute, the Center for Research on Health in Latin America and the Nursing and Human Sciences Faculties form PUCE, last November 12 the team began the field work of the project: Determinants of malnutrition in children under 5 years of the Ecuadorian indigenous population; whose second phase will run until December 14, 2018 in five cantons of Chimborazo; Riobamba, Alausí, Guamote, Guano and Colta.
November 29, 2018
MSc. Sofía Ocaña and Sarah Vaca in company of UTMACH students.
From November 22th to 25th a field trip to the city of Machala was carried out, as part of the project: “Evaluation of the resistance to deltamethrin in natural populations of Anopheles albimanus, malaria vector, and its relationship with the use of pyrethroid insecticides in the southwestern coast of Ecuador”. The team led by MSc. Sofía Ocaña traveled to El Oro province and collaborated with students from UTMACH.
Ecuadorian biologist directs projects against Chagas disease
By Luis E. Mendoza
At Bellamaria community, Loja-Ecuador. Credits: Luis E. Mendoza, Ohio University
Despite that Chagas disease was discovered 100 years ago, there are still 8 million people who suffer from it. It is spread via contact with the feces of an insect called Trypanozoma cruzi, once the mosquito bite penetrates the human skin.
In 2005, the WHO classified Chagas disease as a neglected tropical disease. This means that it is a disease that proliferates in impoverished environments (as is the case in some rural areas of Ecuador), tropical climates and that has been historically ignored by the global health system. However, it is only in recent decades that scientific research has begun to focus on its study. "Chagas is a neglected disease and in order to close those gaps it is necessary to carry out research that generates knowledge that allows the development of better diagnoses, treatments and control strategies for the transmission" says Dr. Mario Grijalva, Director of the Center for Research on Health in Latin America.
June 26th, 2018
By Luis E. Mendoza
Research published in Journal of Nanotechnology in April 18, 2018.
The Ambrosia is a plant with mythological resonance. The legend tells us that Greek and Sumerian gods used to drink it as a source of immortality. Moreover, the indigenous peoples of the inter-Andean valley -located in what we current know as Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru- used it as part of their traditional medicine. Few people know, however, that this plant -combined with silver nanoparticles- contributes to control infectious diseases such as Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika. This is the outcome of research led by Ecuadorian biologist Bianca Morejón in the Center for Health Research in Latin America (CISeAL). This research was part of her thesis, conducted under the direction of Dr. Marco Neira.
