Chagas' disease

American  

[shah-guhs] / ˈʃɑ gəs /

noun

Pathology.

1. an infectious disease caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, occurring chiefly in tropical America and characterized by irregular fever, palpable lymph nodes, and often heart damage.

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Chagas' disease British  

/ ˈʃɑːɡəs /

noun

1. Also called: American trypanosomiasis.   South American trypanosomiasis.  a form of trypanosomiasis found in South America, caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, characterized by fever and, often, inflammation of the heart muscles Compare sleeping sickness

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Etymology

Origin of Chagas' disease

1910–15; named after C. Chagas (1879–1934), Brazilian physician, its describer

Example Sentences

Other critical research uncovered the mirror-image DNA among the parasite that causes Chagas’ disease, which can cause irreversible damage to the heart and digestive organs if left untreated.

From Washington Post • Mar. 7, 2023

He once experimented with a bug that spreads Chagas’ disease, allowing it to bite his arm and suck blood once a week, only to experience an extreme allergic reaction during the eighth round of bloodletting.

From Washington Post • Apr. 5, 2020

Chagas’ disease, spread by a parasite commonly known as the “kissing bug,” affects millions of people in Central and South America.

From Scientific American • Sep. 19, 2018

Trypanosomiasis, or Chagas' disease, caused by a parasite spread by ticks, bed bugs, pig flies.

From Time Magazine Archive

Guinea pigs may have contributed a trypanosome infection like Chagas’ disease or leishmaniasis to our catalog of woes, but that’s uncertain.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond