New Hope for Chagas Disease Treatment.

Byline: Howard Hughes Medical Institute

CHEVY CHASE, Md., March 31 (AScribe Newswire) -- Chagas disease, which is transmitted to humans by a blood-sucking insect known as an Assassin bug, is the most devastating parasitic infection in Central and South America and Mexico. The protozoan parasite that causes the disease, Trypanosoma cruzi, infects 16 to 18 million people, causing severe chronic illness and tens of thousands of deaths per year.

Until now, there has been no effective treatment for the long-term, chronic form of Chagas disease, which kills up to one-third of those infected, usually by heart failure. However, two Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) international research scholars have now found that in mice, a compound called TAK-187 is significantly more effective than the current standard of care - the drug benznidazole - in preventing T. cruzi-induced cardiac damage. Julio …