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Chagas disease (CD) or American trypanosomiasis identified in 1909 by Carlos Chagas, has become over the last 40 years a global health concern due to the huge migration flows from Latin America to Europe, United States, Canada and Japan. In Europe, most migrants from CD-endemic areas are concentrated in Spain, Italy, France, United Kingdom and Switzerland. Pooled seroprevalence studies conducted in Europe show an overall 4.2% prevalence, with the highest infection rates observed among individuals from Bolivia (18.1%). However, in most European countries the disease is neglected with absence of screening programmes and low access to diagnosis and treatment.

Physicians working in Europe should also be aware of the risk of autochthonous transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi to newborns by their infected mothers and to recipients of blood or transplanted organs from infected donors.

Finally …