Experts Say We Should Track Chagas Disease in Food Sickness Counts

Did you know that scientists are saying we need to pay more attention to a disease called Chagas disease? It's a sickness caused by a tiny parasite called Trypanosoma cruzi. Chagas doesn't just happen in one way; it has a lot of different ways it can spread. Right now, it's a big problem in Latin America, but it's also starting to show up in places like North America and Europe.

One way you can get Chagas is by eating food that's not safe. For example, if you eat meat or something with the blood of an animal that has the disease, you might get sick. And it's not just meat – even things like fruit juice can be dangerous if they're not clean.

Scientists want everyone to remember Chagas when they are figuring out how much harm foodborne diseases do. The World Health Organization, which is a big group that helps keep us safe from diseases, didn't include Chagas in its last report from 2015 because they didn't have enough information. But they're working on a new report due in 2025.

When we talk about how much a disease hurts us, scientists use a special term called Disability Life Years, or DALYs for short. Even though Chagas might not seem as common as some other diseases, the hurt it causes is a lot more than we thought before. It can be worse than sicknesses caused by other germs like Bacillus cereus or Listeria.

What's also important is that Chagas can be very dangerous. There are about 6 to 7 million people around the world with the disease, and about 10,000 people die from it every year. If you get it from food, it can be even more serious and some people might not survive.

There's more and more proof that the food we eat could be a way Chagas spreads, and when it spreads this way, it can make people even sicker. But not everyone knows just how serious this is. Sometimes, people don't even talk about it as a way you can get Chagas.

When someone eats something that gives them Chagas, they almost always get sick. They might get really hot, have sore muscles, headaches, swelling, and belly pain. Other times, they could have more serious problems like their skin might turn yellow or they might feel their heart beating weirdly.

Why does eating something bad give you worse sickness? Scientists think it might be because you're getting more parasites this way. Even though they're still figuring things out, it looks like the damage from Chagas you get from food is bigger than we thought, especially when we compare it to other foodborne diseases from all over the world.

It's super important that we don't forget about Chagas when we're trying to figure out how to stop people from getting sick from food. If we don't pay enough attention, we might miss the best ways to help those who need it most.

Image via Focus Medica