What is the incubation period for Chagas disease?
What is the incubation period for Chagas disease?
After the incubation period of 1 to 2 weeks, infected patients enter the acute phase of Chagas disease. Transfusion- and transplant-associated cases may have a longer incubation period, sometimes up to 120 days.
What does Chagas do to dogs?
The clinical signs of Chagas disease are variable and non-specific. Most infected dogs demonstrate subtle signs, such as lethargy, decreased appetite, and weight loss. In more severe cases, you may also notice more severe signs, such as fainting, exercise intolerance, vomiting, and diarrhea.
What are the symptoms of Chagas disease in dogs?
Symptoms that occur during chronic disease are those of congestive heart failure, including lethargy, fainting, increased heart rate or abnormal heart rhythm, and fluid buildup in the abdomen or lungs. Although there is no vaccine or veterinary treatment for Chagas disease, pets can be protected through insect control.
What organs are affected by Chagas disease?
Most of the complications are related to muscle changes (muscle atrophy, fibrosis, and inflammation) caused by the parasites in two body organs, the heart, and the GI tract. Consequently, heart failure and esophageal and colon enlargement (megaesophagus and megacolon) are serious complications of Chagas disease.
What is the fatality rate of Chagas disease?
The standardized mortality rate decreased 32.4%, from 3.4% in 2000 to 2.3% in 2010. Most of the deaths (85.9%) occurred in male patients who were > 60 years of age caused by cardiac involvement.
How long can a dog live with Chagas disease?
Dogs who contract Chagas Disease may live with it for months or even years before any signs and symptoms may arise. Even when the disease is in its asymptomatic stage, it can still be doing damage to the animal. From the moment a dog contracts the parasite, the disease can cause heart degeneration and inflammation.
What happens if a kissing bug bites a dog?
However, dogs can suffer exposure in other ways. Eating an infected kissing bug or any infected animal can cause infection. Although bites from the kissing bug don’t directly cause infection, kissing bugs may leave fecal matter in the bite wound and infect a dog.
Which organ is primarily affected in the chronic phase of Chagas disease?
The heart is the most commonly affected organ in persons with chronic Chagas disease. Autopsy may reveal marked bilateral ventricular enlargement, often involving the right side more than the left, in the heart of patients who die of chagasic heart failure (see image below).
Is Chagas disease fatal?
It is estimated that as many as 8 million people in Mexico, Central America, and South America have Chagas disease, most of whom do not know they are infected. If untreated, infection is lifelong and can be life threatening.
What are the symptoms of Chagas disease in humans?
When signs and symptoms do occur, they are usually mild and may include:
- Swelling at the infection site.
- Fever.
- Fatigue.
- Rash.
- Body aches.
- Eyelid swelling.
- Headache.
- Loss of appetite.
How does Chagas disease affect the heart?
Early in the disease course, chronic Chagas heart disease can be clinically silent but can progress to dilated cardiomyopathy with heart failure, ventricular arrhythmias and conduction disturbances, stroke, and other systemic or pulmonary embolisms.
