Chagas Disease Detected in Texas; Potential Vaccine Discovered?

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Coastal Bend health officials have recently retracted their report stating the discovery of a case of Chagas Disease in Texas. According to reports by Kris TV, a blood donation made last October tested positive for the parasite this Monday.

By protocol, health officials are required to conduct a second test to confirm the results. However, the doctors had been unable to find the person responsible for making the blood donation, forcing them to retract their initial statement and change the status of the case from "confirmed" to "probable."

San Antonio Express News reports state that the number of detections has increased over the years. Screening for Chagas disease has only become mandatory since 2007.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Chagas disease is caused by the Trypanosoma cruzi virus. It can be passed on from animals to humans through contact with infected insects such as the Triatomine, commonly known as the "Kissing Bug."

In most cases, patients who have been bitten by an infected bug will exhibit symptoms similar to flu. The only time it becomes fatal, Kris TV says, is if the infection spreads to the heart, lungs or enters the stomach area.

Other possible causes for infection include blood transfusions, organ transplants or consuming food and drinks contaminated by the virus.  The US CDC says the virus can also be passed from an infected mother to child.

Triatomine bugs are common in rural areas. However, in a report by Express News, University of Texas Health Science Center assistant professor Paula Stigler-Granados says infections are not limited to Third World tropical countries.

San Patricio County's health director Dr. James Mobley says the disease, once only common in Central America and Mexico, is now moving northwards to the Coastal Bend area. In a statement to Kris TV, he reassures the public that the disease is not contagious.

"You can sit right next to somebody for a year, you're not going to catch it from them," Mobley tells the Corpus Cristi-based publication.

Belmarra Health says there is currently no cure for the disease although medications are available to manage the symptoms caused by the virus. In the United States, patients can only get the medications through the CDC.

According to Express News reports, there are two drugs commonly used in killing the parasite and managing the symptoms: nifurtimox and benznidazole, both of which are not FDA-approved.

A recent news article by the San Franciso Business Times indicates that KaloBios Pharmaceuticals was attempting to get Martin Shkreli to fund the benznidazole program. The CEO was arrested before the transaction was closed.

In 2015, researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center and Baylor College of Medicine's National School of Tropical Medicine have published a paper revealing how the disease enters the immune system. According to the Balmarra health publication, the doctors aim to create the first vaccine with the information derived from this study.