American Trypanosomiasis

The series Advances in Stem Cell Biology is a timely and expansive collection of comprehensive information and new discoveries in the field of stem cell biology. iPSCs for Studying Infectious Diseases, Volume 8 addresses how important induced pluripotent stems cells are and how can they can help treat certain infectious diseases. Somatic cells can be reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells by the expression of specific transcription factors. These cells have been transforming biomedical research over the last 15 years. This volume will address the advances in research of how induced pluripotent stem cells are being used for treatment of different infectious diseases, such as corona virus, coxsackievirus, salmonella infection, influenza virus and much more. The volume is written for researchers and scientists in stem cell therapy, cell biology, regenerative medicine and organ transplantation; and is contributed by world-renowned authors in the field.Chagas disease causes severe socioeconomic impact and a high medical cost in Latin America. WHO and the World Bank consider Chagas disease as the fourth most transmittable disease to have a major impact on public health in Latin America: 120 million persons are potentially exposed, 16 to 18 million of whom are presently infected, causing 45,000 to 50,000 deaths per year. It has been calculated that approximately 2.4 million potential working years are lost because of incapacity and mortality due to the disease, for an annual cost estimated at 20 billion Euros. American Trypanosomiasis provides a comprehensive overview of Chagas disease and discusses the latest discoveries concerning the three elements that compose the transmission chain of the disease: The host: human and mammalian reservoirsThe insect vectors: domestic and sylvatic vectorsThe causative parasite: Trypanosoma cruzi