Argentines Report Advance
Against Chagas' Disease

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Reuters) - Argentine scientists said on Thursday they had made a breakthrough in efforts to combat a deadly parasitic infection that is believed to have killed Charles Darwin and is endemic in Latin America, affecting millions of mainly poor, rural families.

Researchers at the Institute of BioTechnological Investigations at San Martin University said they had unraveled the genetic makeup and structure of the enzyme that allows the parasite responsible for Chagas' disease to defeat the body's immune system.

The disease causes swelling of the internal organs, such as the brain and intestines, and can damage the heart. It is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi and transmitted to humans by bloodsucking reduviid bugs, or ``kissing bugs,'' that live in the cracks and holes of homes in South and Central America.

Carlos Frasch, head of the research institute, told Reuters the scientists had identified the part of the molecule to which ''we have to direct antibodies or a drug so that this molecule no longer works.''

``We now know what to attack. Now it remains simply to do the job of making sure the molecule does not operate,'' he added.

Darwin is believed to have contracted the disease in Latin America while conducting the research that led to his 19th century work ``The Origin of Species.'' He died at age 73 after a long illness that included symptoms similar to those experienced by people with Chagas' disease.

Infected people will often die 10 to 20 years after being bitten, frequently from heart failure. Some 16 million to 18 million people around the world are infected with Chagas' disease and about 50,000 die each year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The parasite is spread to humans when an infected bug bites a person and deposits feces on the person's skin, usually at night while the person is sleeping. The person often accidentally rubs the feces into the bite wound, an open cut, the eyes or mouth.

Reference Source 89

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