No abstract

Chagas’ disease is an emerging public health problem in areas where the disease is not endemic. Treatment with benznidazole has shown efficacy in the acute stage of the disease, but its efficacy in the chronic stage remains controversial, and unwanted side effects are more frequent and severe in adults than in children. This study describes the profile of side effects of benznidazole in a cohort of Trypanosoma cruzi-infected patients in a European country.

Cryptic Leishmania infection is highly prevalent in blood donors from the Balearic Islands. DTH and L. infantum nested PCR appear to be more sensitive to detect asymptomatic infection than the serology. The use of leukodepletion filters appears to remove parasites from RBC units efficiently.

Abstract. American Trypanosomiasis or Chagas disease (CD) is a neglected disease that affects Latin American people worldwide. Two old antiparasitic drugs, benznidazole and nifurtimox, are currently used for specific CD treatment with limited efficacy in chronic infections and frequent side effects. New drugs are needed for patients with chronic CD as well as for immunosuppressed patients, for whom the risk of reactivation is life-threatening. We describe a case of chronic CD and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) that required immunosuppression to control the autoimmune process. It was found that benznidazole induced a reduction, but not an elimination, of circulating Trypanosoma cruzi levels, whereas subsequent treatment with posaconazole led to a successful resolution of the infection, despite the maintenance of immunosuppressive therapy.

L-AMB is well tolerated and useful for secondary prophylaxis of VL.