Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of Chagas disease
Overview
This document focuses on making recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of Chagas disease, an infection caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, the protozoan agent of a systemic parasitic disease.
These clinical practice guidelines were prepared following the WHO handbook for guideline development (5). A multidisciplinary development group was formed, comprised of thematic experts, epidemiologists, methodologists, and users. Since there were no existing guidelines that could be adapted, the guidelines were developed from scratch. Searches were conducted to find systematic reviews and primary studies up to August 2017 in online databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane) and through manual searches. Later, the evidence summary and profiles were prepared using the GRADE approach (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation). The recommendations were graded by an expert panel on Chagas disease. The guidelines were peer evaluated according to subject area and methodology. All expert panel and development group participants signed conflict of interest statements that were analyzed by the guidelines coordination team.
This document provides recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of adult and pediatric patients. The following recommendations pertain to individuals with: 1) suspected Chagas disease; 2) exposure to Chagas disease; 3) diagnosis of chronic Chagas disease; and 4) diagnosis of acute Chagas disease.
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