Download Chagas` Disease - Bakersfield College

Beware Of Blood!
By:
Faith Efada
David Hernandez
Zenona Hammond
Case Study
A young male patient, who has just returned from 2 years of
service in the Peace Corps in Brazil, presents at his primary
care physician with fever, chest pain, breathlessness, and a
distended abdomen. He was in a car accident about 6
months ago, while on active duty, and received a blood
transfusion in a local Rio de Janeiro hospital. The physician
refers him to the hospital where he is admitted for
observation. A chest X-ray shows both hepatosplenomegaly
and heart enlargement and an EKG shows a systolic
murmur. The patient does not remember being bitten by
anything during his time in the Peace Corps, as all Peace
Corps volunteers were advised by their commanding officers
to use netting and insect repellents and to remain "covered
up" whenever possible. The patient has also had no sexual
intercourse over the past 6 months. The patient died 2 years
later from heart damage caused by the hemoflagellate
trypanosomal protozoa infecting him.
Diagnosis
• Hepatitis
• Rheumatic Fever
(Anderson)
• African Sleeping
Sickness
• Chagas’ Disease
• Bacterial Infection
• Alcoholism
• Asthma
• Airborne Allergies
• Internal injury
– Due to Accident
1. Chagas’ Disease
2. African Sleeping
Sickness
3. Rheumatic Fever
1. Bacterial infection
(Anderson)
4. Hepatitis
1. B or C (Anderson)
5. Alcoholism
What to Do?
•
Questions
a) Where have you traveled? (Excluding Brazil)
b) Have you had any recent or recurrent
infections?
c) How sever was your accident?
a) Where there any internal injuries?
d) Are you an Alcoholic?
e) Have you been tested for Hepatitis?
Test Performed
• Throat Culture
• Blood Test
• Blood Smear
(Atlas)
What do you have?
• Chagas’ Disease
• Trypanosoma cuzi
– Background Info
• Symptoms
– Questions
– Test
– Location
(Atlas)
How?
•
Two ways of contracting
1) “Kissing” bug
2) Blood Transfusion
(Atlas)
Treatment
• Acute
– Benznidazole
• Nifurtimox
• Chronic
– Not Good
• Heart and Intestinal
Prognosis
• Chronic
• Death
(Medline)
Prevention
• Screening of blood
• Control of vector population
(Oates)
Work Cited
• Anderson, Douglas. Mosby’s Medical Dictionary. St. Louis:
Mosby’s Inc., 2002
• Atlas of Medical Parasatology. Tripanosoma cruzi (Chagas’
Diesase). Carlo Denegri Foundation. 14 March 2006.
<http://www.cdfound.to.it/HTML/trip1.htm>
• Bauman, Robert. Microbiology: Alternate Edition with
Diseases by Body System. San Francisco: Pearson
Education Inc., 2006
• Medline Plus. “Medical Encyclopedia: Chagas’ Disease.” 7
March 2006.
http://nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/print/ency/article/001372.htm
• Oates, Daniel. Untitled (Pest Control, Bob). 15 March 2006.
<http://www.artregister.com/seavest_collection/oates_bob.htm
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