Enfermedad de Chagas agudo: transmisión oral de Trypanosoma cruzi como una vía de transmisión re-emergente Acute Chagas' disease: oral infection of Trypanosoma cruzi as a re-emerging transmission pathway

The most common clinical form of Chagas disease in Colombia is the chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy. However, recently nine outbreaks of acute Chagas disease by probable oral transmission have been described in low endemic areas with scarce presence of domiciliated vectors. These outbreaks have had high rates of morbidity and mortality. The oral transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi occurs by the ingestion of contaminated food with feces of vectors or secretions of wild reservoirs. An oral transmission outbreak is considered when more than one individual shows an acute febrile illness without an inoculation route, and associated with suspected food intake. The diagnosis is made by detection of parasite in blood or other biological fluids, in the early days of presentation of febrile syndrome.