Experimental Vaccines against Chagas Disease: A Journey through History.

Chagas disease, or American trypanosomiasis, which is caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, is primarily a vector disease endemic in 21 Latin American countries, including Mexico. Although many vector control programs have been implemented, T. cruzi has not been eradicated.

[Chronic Chagasic Cardiomyopathy at the Hospital General de Zona no. 24 IMSS. Poza Rica, Veracruz].

Unlabelled: Northern Veracruz has conditions, biotic and abiotic, to support Triatomine bugs and vectorial transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi to human beings. Therefore we explore seroprevalence of antibodies to this parasite and the presence of Chronic Chagasic Cardiopathy (CCC) at Cardiology ward in a General Hospital serving North of Veracruz State, and neighbord states Hidalgo, Puebla San Luis Potosi and Tamaulipas.

Material And Methods: We search for consecutive adult patients attending outpatient and beds assigned to Cardiology between March through September, 2003.

[Antibodies against T. cruzi in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas].

Unlabelled: Chagas disease is caused by the flagellate protozoan T: cruzi. Seroepidemiological surveys in Chiapas, Mexico have shown seropositive individuals, therefore, we searched for people affected by the chronic form of Chagas disease which involves the heart, causing a chronic, progressive and fatal disease called Chronic Chagasic Cardiopathy (CCC).

Material And Methods: To establish the frequency of CCC we studied 28 patients seen at the Hospital General Regional "Dr.

[Epidemiological and clinical outlook of chronic Chagas' heart disease in Mexico].

Objective: To compare the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of chronic Chagas' heart disease to other dilated cardiomyopathies.

Methods: A study comprising 128 patients from a heart disease center was carried out from 1993 to 2003. Of them, 51 (40%) were Trypasonoma cruzi positive.

MHC class I and class II genes in Mexican patients with Chagas disease.

Chagas' disease contributes significantly to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in several Latin-American countries. Previous studies have reported the effect of the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) molecules in the immune response regulation of Trypanosoma cruzi infection, and the association of HLA antigens with heart damage. We studied the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I (HLA-A and HLA-B), and class II (HLA-DR) genes in a sample of 66 serologically positive individuals with and without cardiomyopathy, and in 127 healthy controls.

[Specific dilated myocardiopathy. Chronic chagasic cardiopathy at the National Institute of Cardiology Ignacio Chávez].

Cardiomyopathies are a heterogenous group of heart ailments. Some of them are primary myocardial diseases and are classified as dilated, hypertrophic, restrictive and arryhithmogenic. Dilated cardiomyopathies (DCs) are the most common.