Library · Microorganism
Trypanosoma cruzi
Make it clearer
Trypanosoma cruzi is a parasite, a microscopic living thing that survives at the expense of another, and it is what causes Chagas disease, which is also called American trypanosomiasis.
What carries it from place to place is an insect, the reduviid bug. The way it spreads is less obvious than you would think. The parasite is in the bug's feces. The bite itches, the person scratches, and in scratching rubs those feces into the open wound. It does not enter with the bite, it enters with what the insect leaves beside it.
Once inside, the parasite is called a trypomastigote, and it invades the body's cells near the site where it entered. Inside them it changes shape and becomes an amastigote, the form that lives hidden inside the cell.
In brief
Trypanosoma cruzi is the parasite that causes Chagas disease, also called American trypanosomiasis.
It is transmitted by the reduviid bug: the parasite travels in its feces and enters when the person scratches the bite area and rubs the feces into the open wound.
It does not enter with the bite, it enters with what the insect leaves beside it.
Once inside, the trypomastigote invades host cells near the entry site and transforms into an amastigote within them.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingChagas Disease, StatPearlsPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated