LA Clinic First in Nation to Treat Deadly Parasitic Disease



A Los Angeles County hospital has opened the first clinic in the country devoted to studying and treating Chagas disease, a deadly parasitic illness that has long been the leading cause of heart failure in Latin America and is now being seen in immigrant communities in the United States.

Unless Chagas is treated early, little can be done to halt its advance. Yet because 10 to 20 years can pass before heart or gastrointestinal complications develop, many people don't realize they're infected with what has been called a silent killer.

"We really, really need to become more aware of the potential of this disease in our Latin American population because the long-term outcome is pretty horrific," said Dr. Sheba Meymandi, director of the new center at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar. "If we can block the progression to full-blown Chagas disease and heart failure, we'd be doing a huge service."


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