Chagas disease affects around six to seven million people, mainly in endemic areas of Latin American countries. Chagas disease is a parasitic infection caused by contact with the faeces of infected blood-sucking insects (called kissing bugs) which infest people’s homes.
Chagas disease can also be passed on by eating food contaminated by kissing bugs, through blood transfusions or organ transplants, or to children during birth.
After an often mild acute phase of a few weeks – with non-specific symptoms such as fever, body aches, rashes, diarrhoea and vomiting –Â most people will go a long time without showing any signs of the disease, and are often unaware they have the illness. An estimated 30% to 40% of infected people will eventually develop symptomatic forms of the disease, including cardiac alterations and/or enlargement of the colon and oesophagus, which can incapacitate and frequently result in death.
6-7 million
are infected with Chagas disease
21 countries
in Latin American are endemic
~75 million
people are at risk of infection
Source: WHO data 2019
Estimated number of people living with Chagas disease
Number of chronic cases of Chagas disease detected through medical health care systems in endemic countries of the Americas
Data is provided by the World Health Organization and Pan American Health Organization