Chagas Disease

Chagas disease (also called American trypanosomiasis) is an illness you get from infection with a parasite. The parasite is spread by triatomine bugs (“kissing bugs”), mostly in Mexico and Central and South America.

The thing about Chagas is that most people don’t know they’re infected. Many people don’t have any symptoms in the initial (acute) phase. But without treatment, most people enter a long-term (chronic) infection phase. Years or even decades later, you can develop severe complications that affect your heart and digestive system.

How common is Chagas disease?

Experts estimate that about 6 to 7 million people worldwide have Chagas disease — and many don’t know they have it. About 280,000 people in the U.S. are infected.