- Duration
- 01/04/2021 - 31/03/2023
- Coordinator
- Julio Alonso
- Funded by
- Global Health Innovative Fund (GHIT)
Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, affects ~7 million people, mostly in Latin America. Vector-borne transmission is on the way of being controlled in several countries, but vertical transmission remains an uncontrolled major public-health challenge. Remarkably, available drugs have a very high cure rate in T. cruzi-infected newborns if administered early upon infection, thus a timely diagnose is crucial for treatment success.
However, the algorithm to detect congenital T. cruzi infection involves parasitological methods that lack sensitivity and a serological study must be performed several months later. In many endemic regions, people live far from referral centres which entails that a large proportion of infants rarely go back for diagnosis confirmation and treatment, if infected. Consequently, they evolve to the chronic phase of the disease with the risk of developing severe manifestations.
Molecular-based diagnostics have a very high sensitivity to detect congenital T. cruzi infections, but laboratories in those distant regions are not equipped to perform them. With the aim to provide a suitable point-of-care (POC) test for the timely diagnosis of congenital Chagas disease in these settings, we will validate the implementation of EIKEN T. cruzi loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) prototype in the field.
Total Funding
¥ 147,127,368
Our Team
Coordinator
-
Julio Alonso Assistant Research Professor
ISGlobal Team
-
Aina Casellas Técnico de Soporte Estadístico -
Laura Ferradino Research Assistant
-
Quim Gascon Research Professor, Head of the Chagas, Parasitic and Imported Diseases programme -
Susana Méndez Data manager -
Mirko Rojas Consultant and Field Coordinator in Bolivia -
Sergi Sanz Head of Department - Statistics
Other projects
See Past ProjectsNHEPACHA
New Tools for the Diagnosis and Evaluation of Chagas Disease
Euroleish.net
Control of Leishmaniasis. From bench to bedside and community
GREPIMER
Grup de recerca en patología importada i malaties emergents i re-emergents
Diagnóstico y tratamiento del zika, dengue y chikunguña
Investigación aplicada al diagnóstico y tratamiento de los virus Zika, Dengue y Chikunguña
TcONTROL
Antigen-specific immunological biomarkers associated to control of infection by T. cruzi.
Xtrategy
Model and Tool for designing strategies to scale up Chagas Disease care
STOP
Towards the interruption of transmission of soil-transmitted helminths
TESEO
New chemotherapy regimens and biomarkers for Chagas Disease
Health Data in Migrant Population
Improving health data collection under the healthcare programme for migrant population in Nador, Morocco
AVATAR
Searching the hidden: evaluating dengue, chikungunya and Zika autochthonous transmission in the city of Barcelona.
ECO
Enhanced and equitable coverage of COVID-19 testing and treatment in Bolivia and Paraguay