- According to the World Health Organization (WHO):
- An estimated 6–7 million people are infected with T. cruzi worldwide.
- About 10,000 deaths occur every year due to T. cruzi infection.
- Around 300,000 individuals in the United States are believed to be affected by Chagas Disease. These are largely underestimates.
- This includes 57,000 patients with Chagas cardiomyopathy (heart disease), 43,000 infected women of reproductive age, and an annual occurrence of 22–108 congenital infections.
- An estimated 10,000 cases of locally acquired T. cruzi infection are believed to be prevalent.
- Texas is an endemic state with active transmission cycles of CD in both humans and animals.
- New York City (NYC) has one of the largest Latin American populations in the United States, with an estimated 1 million immigrants from countries where CD is endemic.
- A recent study positioned the New York-Newark-Jersey City area as the second-highest among US metropolitan areas in the estimated percentage of infected adults. Reports of CD in NYC are relatively limited compared to other states, with large underreporting or misdiagnosis because physicians are not aware of the disease.
- Two recent reports revealed a prevalence rate of 10.74% and an additional 60 cases of CD among people of Latin American descent in New York.
- Thousands of families are migrating northward to the US/Mexico border.
- Over 60,000 children crossed the Darien Gap last year, with nearly half under the age of five.
- The US recorded nearly 83,000 children entering between January and July alone last year.
- Upwards of 30% of individuals infected with T. cruzi will develop Chagas disease in the form of devastating cardiac, gastrointestinal, and neurologic complications decades later.
- The US migrant population has ballooned to nearly two million people who may be infected with T. cruzi.
- ~1.1 million women of childbearing age in Latin America are infected with the parasite.
- 1-5% of infants born to infected mothers will be infected congenitally.
- Current recommendations suggest screening all children coming from Latin America, unless born in a non-endemic area or to T. cruzi negative mothers.
- There is an urgent need to address the substantial knowledge gap on pediatric T. cruzi seroprevalence and treatment efficacy in the US.
- Enhancing the current diagnostic guidelines is imperative, drawing on the insights gained from experiences in endemic Latin American countries.
- Comprehensive T. cruzi surveillance program targeting pediatric patients migrating from all Latin American countries, not only to NYC, but nationwide, is needed.
- Berenice’s legacy urges the end of neglect and justice to be served for undiagnosed children facing lifetimes of debilitating disease.
Chagas Center of Excellence 