Etymologia: Chagas Disease - Vol. 19 No. 10 - October 2013 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal - CDC

Etymologia: Chagas Disease - Vol. 19 No. 10 - October 2013 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal - CDC

Table of Contents
Volume 19, Number 10–October 2013

Volume 19, Number 10—October 2013

Etymologia

Etymologia: Chagas Disease

Article Contents

• Cha·gas [shä-gəs] Disease
• References
• Suggested Citation

Suggested citation for this article

Cha·gas [shä-gəs] Disease

Prevalent among persons who have lived in Mexico, Central America, and South America, Chagas disease can cause chronic and potentially severe cardiac and gastrointestinal disease decades after infection. The disease is named for Carlos Chagas, a Brazilian scientist who discovered a new species of Trypanosoma in the intestines of triatomine insects (called barbeiro or barber because they often bite the face). In 1908, Chagas named the new species T. cruzi after his mentor, Oswaldo Cruz. The next year, he identified the parasite in the blood of an ill 2-year-old girl named Bérénice, in what became the first description of this new human disease.

References

1. Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary. 32nd ed. Philadelphia: Elsevier Saunders; 2012.
2. Kropf SP, Sá MR. The discovery of Trypanosoma cruzi and Chagas disease (1908–1909): tropical medicine in Brazil. Hist Cienc Saude Manguinhos. 2009;16(Suppl 1):13–34 . .DOIPubMed

Suggested citation for this article: Etymologia: Chagas disease. Emerg Infect Dis [Internet]. 2013 Oct [date cited]. http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid1910.ET1910

DOI: 10.3201/eid1910.ET1910