Chagas disease, which is endemic in Latin America, can cause serious cardiac and intestinal complications in about 30% of infected people. The disease is especially pernicious because it can go undetected for decades—at which point treatment is often ineffective.
Maddy McFarland, a PhD student in biological sciences in public health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS), is studying the parasite that spreads the disease, Trypanosoma cruzi, which has the ability to evade the human immune system. She discussed her research on the GSAS podcast “Veritalk” on October 25, 2018.
McFarland said that the drugs available to treat Chagas disease aren’t very effective. “We wish it was better,” she said. “The development of new drugs, particularly for chronic Chagas disease, is a major issue.”
Listen to the Veritalk podcast: Monsters Episode 2 – Parasites
Learn more
Q&A: poverty, political unrest—and global warming—encourage Chagas’ disease spread (Harvard Public Health magazine)
Cure for ‘silent killer’ remains elusive (Harvard Chan School feature)