Diagnosis of Trypanosoma cruzi Infection: Challenges on Laboratory Tests Development and Applications

Abstract

Insufficient access to diagnosis is yet a major issue to control Chagas disease. Therefore, there is an urgent need of more practical diagnostics and/or diagnostic algorithms that better suit the demands and field conditions, mainly of endemic regions. Such diagnostics should be made available not only to easily detect acute and chronic cases of T. cruzi infection, but also to inform on treatment efficacy and on the evolution of transplanted patients. In this chapter, we first provide a description of the laboratory techniques used for the diagnosis of the disease. We then point out the latest research advancements in the field. Ultimately, we discuss on whether the implementation of these advancements could aid to overcome the challenges faced today by currently available tools in endemic and non-endemic settings.