Evidence of likely autochthonous Chagas disease in the southwestern United States: A case series of Trypanosoma cruzi seropositive blood donors

Abstract

Background: Chagas disease is a parasitic infection that can insidiously cause non-ischemic cardiomyopathy. Given the largely silent nature of this progressive disease, asymptomatic blood donors pose potential blood transfusion risk.Blood donation screening has become an unintentional form of Chagas disease surveillance, with thousands of new cases identified since national surveillance was initiated in 2007.Study Design and Methods: We recruited T. cruzi-positive blood donors identified from California and Arizona blood centers for confirmatory blood screening and assessment of lifetime infection risk. Results: Among eight suspected cases, we identified four confirmed US autochthonous infections. The current manuscript details the transmission sources, healthcare-seeking behaviors post-blood donation resulting, and

Using axenic and gnotobiotic insects to examine the role of different microbes on the development and reproduction of the kissing bug Rhodnius prolixus (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)

“…Kissing bugs are also notable vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi , the causative agent of Chagas' disease. This neglected tropical disease affects millions of people, primarily in the Neotropics, though it is increasingly recognized as a public health threat in the Nearctic (Lynn et al, 2022 ). T. cruzi resides exclusively in the alimentary tract of kissing bugs, and therefore co‐occurs in the gut along with the microbiome.…”