Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited disorder of the red blood cells (RBCs). Sickle cell anemia is the most common type of SCD. RBCs carry oxygen throughout the body via hemoglobin. With SCD, defective hemoglobin replaces normal hemoglobin. Over time, this causes many RBCs to become rigid and sickle-shaped and die earlier than normal RBCs, leading to a constant shortage.
Chagas disease (aka American trypanosomiasis) is a tropical parasitic disease caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi that is found mostly in triatomine insects (aka “kissing bugs”) and in the Americas. Infection is life-long, with symptoms ranging from fever and headaches to enlarged internal organs.
CHIKV outbreaks have occurred in countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It was found for the first time in the Americas on islands in the Caribbean in 2013 and has spread throughout most of the Americas. It has since been identified in over 60 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. No commercially available vaccine to prevent or medicine to treat CHIKV infection is currently available.
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