Considerations about etiological treatment of the chagas disease and cure criterion

Abstract

Objective: To understand the importance of the etiological treatment of those infected by Trypanosoma cruzi, considering the classic cure criterion. Bibliographic review: The Chagas Disease (CD) is a neglected tropical illness and configures a public health problem with high morbidity and mortality in Latin America. Its treatment should be offered to every seropositive patient, except the elderly in severe clinical forms of the chronic phase. Its effectiveness depends on the stage of the disease, being lower in the late chronic phase. Some aspects discourage the use of the treatment, mainly its low effectiveness in the late chronic phase, the slowness of seroconversion and the adverse effects. In this sense, efforts have been made to reposition existing drugs and new drugs that can overcome the benefits obtained with nifurtimox and benznidazole. Final considerations: For greater acceptance of CD treatment, more studies are needed to prove its effectiveness and the reassessment of the cure criterion using more appropriate methodologies. Furthermore, it's important to prepare health professionals to face this parasitosis of great medical importance, especially regarding the eligibility of the etiological treatment, which results in a better prognosis of the disease, even if the clinical and/or parasitological cure is not achieved.