Chagas’ sjukdom i Sverige - stort behov av riktlinjer för testning. Hundratals seropositiva fall antas finnas, ett fåtal är kända
Engelsk titel: Chagas’ disease in Sweden - great need of guidelines for testing. Probably hundreds of seropositive cases, only a few known
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Författare:
Sandahl, Katarina
;
Botero-Kleiven, Silvia
;
Hellgren, Urban
Email: katarina.sandahl@stud.ki.se
Språk: Swe
Antal referenser: 14
Dokumenttyp:
Översikt
UI-nummer: 11111286
Sammanfattning
Chagas’ disease is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. Carrier states are often asymptomatic but severe symptoms from the gastrointestinal tract and heart can develop ten to thirty years after infection. In South and Central America, the disease is endemic and spreads primarily through blood sucking insects, called kissing bugs. As a result of migration Chagas’ disease today has become a problem in non-endemic parts of the world, including Europe, where it spreads congenitally or via blood transfusion. In Sweden, there are probably several hundred seropositive individuals but since only a small part of the risk group is tested, only a few are known to the health system. National guidelines for testing need to be introduced. It is especially important that pregnant women are tested since treatment of congenitally infected newborns is curative.