Neglected No More

Don Ricardo and the Chilimarca Community

Chagas Disease

The vinchuca bug needs human blood to survive. And in the remote community of Chilimarca, Bolivia, it was feasting. Only an inch long, the “kissing bug” as it is known transmits Chagas disease, a debilitating disease that causes headache, muscle pain, shortness of breath, and heart failure. Although researchers state that exact numbers are not known, some estimates suggest that as many as 3 million people in Bolivia about half the population - may be infected with Chagas disease.

Members of the Chilimarca community, including local bricklayer Don Ricardo, did not make the connection between the health problems many of them had been experiencing and the presence of vinchucas. The bugs live in the walls, mats, floors, and roofs of people’s homes and freely transmit the disease. Pregnant mothers can pass the disease to their newborns and unclean food preparation areas can harbor and transmit the bugs.

MAP entered the community and began a multi-faceted effort to educate and prevent Chagas disease. The project’s activities ranged from conducting educational workshops to collecting and testing the insects that carry the parasite for infection, to refurbishing 116 houses in the community, effectively eliminating the breeding grounds for the bug. Plaster walls, concrete floors, and corrugated metal roofs replaced bricks laced with straw, dirt floors, and thatched roofs. Villagers also learned how to separate their living spaces from livestock areas in order to reduce exposure to the vinchuca.

Approximately 500 people participated in these educational workshops and during the course of the program a community member named Don Ricardo fell ill. When he was taken to a doctor with the signs of a heart attack, he was found to be Chagas positive. Ricardo needed bypass surgery to save his life, a procedure that is far too costly for people in this community to afford. MAP was able to find a surgeon who donated his services and performed a successful bypass. Ricardo has recuperated almost completely and is now working again as a bricklayer to support his family. The rest of his community is actively aware of the threat of Chagas and knows how to prevent it.

There is no vaccine for Chagas, and management is possible through the efforts of MAP-Trained Community Health Promoters and Health Guardians. The result of this project will be an extended lifespan for millions who would have died of heart disease caused by Chagas.