What if a deadly epidemic was burgeoning and almost nobody
noticed? In the latest issue of PLoS Neglected Tropical
Diseases, a distinguished group of virologists, epidemiologists
and infectious-disease specialists say that’s not a hypothetical
question. They argue that Chagas disease, a parasitic infection
transmitted by blood-sucking insects, has become so widespread
and serious — while remaining largely unrecognized — that it
deserves to be considered a public health emergency. Extending
the metaphor, they liken Chagas’ stealth spread to the early
days of AIDS: Both diseases are health disparities,
disproportionately affecting people living in poverty. Both are
chronic conditions requiring prolonged treatment courses… As
with patients in the first two decades of the HIV/AIDS epidemic,
most patients with Chagas disease do not have access to health
care facilities. Both diseases are also highly stigmatizing, a
feature that for Chagas disease further complicates access to …
essential medicines, as well as acce