An Estimate of the Burden of Chagas Disease in the United States

Abstract

Chagas disease causes the highest burden of any parasitic disease in the Western hemisphere. By applying published seroprevalence figures to immigrant populations, we estimate that 300,167 individuals with Trypanosoma cruzi infection live in the United States, with 30,000–45,000 cardiomyopathy cases and 63–315 congenital infections annually. T. cruzi causes a substantial disease burden in the United States.