Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) with a high disease burden in the Americas. It is transmitted primarily by hematophagous triatomine bugs, but alternate transmission routes such as congenital, oral, and transfusional transmission are becoming more relevant in many regions. After a short acute phase, infected patients enter an asymptomatic chronic phase, which can become symptomatic in 20% to 40% of the cases, characterized by a chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy and less frequently by a digestive form of the disease. Current control is mostly focused on vector control with indoor spraying of residual pyrethroids and to a lesser extent with housing improvement. Treatment of infected patients remains challenging due to the limited efficacy of the two available drugs during the chronic phase and their side effects but also because of limited access to treatment for patients.
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