UGA researchers discover route for potential Chagas disease animal vaccine

Researchers at the University of Georgia have discovered a new way to direct a vaccine to the parasite that causes Chagas disease, a leading cause of death among young to middle-age adults in areas of South America where it is endemic. Chagas disease is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, which spreads via a subspecies of blood-feeding insects commonly known as “kissing bugs” because they tend to bite people on the face and lips. While the disease can progress slowly, chronic infection almost inevitably results in irreparable damage to heart and digestive system tissues. “Chagas disease is incredibly understudied, because it is a disease of poverty,” said Rick Tarleton, Distinguished Research Professor in the department of cellular biology in UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and co-author of a paper describing their work in Cell Host and Microbe. “I don’t know if we will ever see a Chagas disease vaccine for...