Sketchy Micro: Trypanosoma Cruzi

Question 1

Where is T. cruzi commonly found?

Answer 1

In South America and central America (like Che Guevara, whom this scene is centered around)

Question 2

Trypanosoma cruzi causes ______________.

Answer 2

Chagas disease (like CHe’s GAS station behind his motorcycle)

Question 3

How is T. cruzi transmitted?

Answer 3

By the Reduviidae bug, also called the Kissing Bug because it bites around the patient’s mouth (like Che and the girl kissing)

Note: Trypanosoma is specifically in the bug’s feces, so the bug has to bite the skin and then defecate in the wound. People often scratch the wound and enhance the infection.

Question 4

What are the symptoms of Chagas disease?

Answer 4

• Megacolon (like the swollen colon leading from the gas pump to the motorcycle)
• Dilated cardiomyopathy (like the floppy heart –same image as in the Coxsackie scene)
• Achalasia (like the snake with the swollen esophagus)

Question 5

How can T. cruzi be diagnosed?

Answer 5

Via blood smear for active infections (like the blood on the ground) or serology for chronic infections

Question 6

Trypanosoma cruzi causes dilated cardiomyopathy by _______________.

Answer 6

burrowing into the endocardium (like the mole that has burrowed up from the ground)

Question 7

What can treat Trypanosoma infection?

Answer 7

Nifurtimox (like the knee-high moccasins worn by Che’s girlfriend)