Project title:
Diagnostic test for detection of the Chagas Disease

 

Contact:

Grover Zurita Villarroel, Ph. D.
E-mail: grzurita@upb.edu

 

Abstract:

The Chagas disease is only found in Latin America and between 18 million people, most living in poverty, have Chagas disease. This results in roughly 45,000 deaths every year. It is named after Carlos Chagas, a Brazilian doctor who first described the disease in 1909. He also described the life-cycle of the parasite, identified the insects that transmit the parasite, identified small mammals that act as reservoir hosts, and suggested means to help prevent its transmission. According to the World Health Organization, the disease of Chagas is the world’s third parasitic disease after malaria and schistosomiasis. The chagas disease is caused by a parasite called Trypanosoma Cruzi, the vector of which is a haematic insect called Vinchuca which lives in the cane ceilings and in the cracks of the adobe walls of the rural dwellings and those of the suburban districts of the towns. This insect uses the carbon dioxide expelled when breathing to fall and bite the uncovered parts of the person sleeping. The insect then sucks the person’s blood and defecates, and when the person bitten scratches himself/herself due to the itching, the parasite introduces itself in the human body with the aid of the blood. This disease attacks the nervous fibres of the heart autonomous system causing disorders at long terms. This cruel disease is considered as incurable and the only alternative at present to fight against it is the preventive alternative by means of improving the living conditions of the dwellings, the health education, and the control of blood banks in order to avoid its transmission via blood transfusions. In some endemic regions, where the vectorial transmission was controlled through an intensive and continuous Public Health Program, blood transfusion is now the main cause of new infections. Furthermore, human migration from endemic areas to urban centers is providing a rising risk of transfusional Chagas disease in all Latin America and even in non-endemic countries. When considering the high number of blood donors infected with chagas, it can be expected that more than thousands of new cases of transfusional Chagas disease may occur yearly.
The chagas disease research is planning to have a multidisciplinary research group which can involve Engineers and Medicine Doctors, in order to combine their knowledge and experiences. The Neural Network (NNW), Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Blind Source Techniques will be used for the detection of the Chagas Disease.
The standard detection techniques for the chagas disease are both time consuming and expensive. It can be stressed out that it’s necessary that the diagnostic test procedure has to be done by an expert and there is no portable equipment. Therefore, new detection techniques are required to detect and quantify the Chagas parasites. There is also a great need for a portable diagnostic system, easy to use in endemic and rural areas.