Apt et al., J Community Med Health Educ 2013, 4:1 DOI: 10.4172/2161-0711.1000260 Research Article Open Access Volume 4 • Issue 1 • 1000260 J Community Med Health Educ ISSN: 2161-0711 JCMHE, an open access journal Chagas Disease: A Global Neglected Disease that Require Continuous Medical Education Werner Apt 1 , Sebastián Galafé 1 , Inés Zulantay 1 *, Sebastián Yuhasz 1 , Paulina Urbina 1 , Karina Yévenes 1 and Jorge Rodríguez 2 1 Laboratory of Basic-Clinical Parasitology, Program of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Biomedical Science Institute, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Chile 2 School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Chile *Corresponding author: Inés Zulantay, Professor of Parasitology, Laboratory of Basic-Clinical Parasitology, Program of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Biomedical Science Institute, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, PO Box 1440, Santiago 3, Chile, Tel: 56-2-29786753; Fax: 56-2-29786122; E-mail: izulanta@med.uchile.cl Received October 30, 2013; Accepted November 26, 2013; Published November 28, 2013 Citation: Apt W, Galafé S, Zulantay I, Yuhasz S, Urbina P, et al. (2013) Chagas Disease: A Global Neglected Disease that Require Continuous Medical Education. J Community Med Health Educ 4: 260. doi:10.4172/2161-0711.1000260 Copyright: © 2013 Apt W, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Keywords: Chagas disease; Medical education; Self-learning Introduction Chagas disease, caused by the protozoa Trypanosoma cruzi, is endemic in Latin America and is considered as “the most neglected of the neglected diseases [1]. It currently afects around 10 million people in Latin America, and 10 to 30 per cent of cases have developed or will develop cardiac, digestive or nervous system disorders [2]. Te T. cruzi parasite can travel with population movements from endemic to non- endemic countries such as North America (United States and Canada), the western Pacifc region (particularly Japan and Australia) and, more recently, Europe (mainly Belgium, Spain, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, and to a lesser Germany, Austria, Croatia, Denmark, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Norway, Portugal, Romania and Sweden), therefore posing a challenge for the public health [3- 5]. Te congenital transmission, blood transfusion and solid organ transplant are main non vectorial transmission mechanism in those countries; many of them have not yet established ofcial guidelines to avoid these routes [3]. For the adequate medical attention of infected by diferent routes and coursing acute, indeterminate or chronic Chagas disease, proceeding of areas endemic or non-endemic, is necessary to have professional health teams training in the application of ofcial guidelines as part of the development of a comprehensive strategy for control and elimination of Chagas disease [5-7]. One interesting questionnaire was applied in members of American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologist, USA in 421 respondents. 68.2% described their knowledge about Chagas disease as “very limited” [8]. In this study, we evaluated in an endemic chagasic area of Chile the level of knowledge of Chagas disease in health Methods Before Educational Intervention Inquiry design (BEII) Parasitology teachers of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Chile, and members of the Chilean Society of Parasitology (SOCHIPA), whose main investigation was Chagas disease, elaborated an inquiry of 45 multiple choice questions with one corrected answer of four possible options on etiology, pathology, epidemiology, diagnosis, clinical aspects, treatment and control of Chagas disease. Te questions were performed with diferent difculties and stratifcations according the professional competences. Te questionnaire was submitted to four experts, two on Chagas disease, one on public health and one on medical education. At the same time, the inquiry was submitted to ten pre and post-grade thesis students of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Chile whose investigations subjects was Chagas disease. Te opinion of the experts and thesis students, allow improve and stratify the questions. Te minimal percentage to approve the test was 60% of correct answers from 41 questions for medical professionals. 16,17,18 and 25 questions Abstract Objective: In endemic zones of Chagas disease the knowledge of the professional health teams is very important for the success of control of the zoonosis. For this reason, we want to evaluate the knowledge of the parasite diseases Methods: educational intervention inquiry) was applied. The questions related with epidemiological, basic, diagnostic, clinical, chemotherapeutic and preventive aspects, had different grades of complexity and stratifcation according to the professional competences. The approval criterion was 60% of corrected answers. The educational intervention was focused on self-learning by printed and digital interactive material. 30 days was the study period, after the time an AEII (after educational intervention inquiry) was applied. Results: The approval of the BEII fuctuated between 11.6% to 28.89%, and the AEII fuctuated between 68.75% and 89.66% (p=0.0001). By profession, the percentage of approval of the BEII and AEII was 13.98% and 66.20% (paramedics); 14.29% to 85.71% (medical technicians); 19.35% and 83.87% (medical doctors); 27.27% and 90% (midwives); 41.18% and 100% (nurses), respectively (p=0,0001). The global percentage of approval before and after the educational intervention was 19.28% and 77.70%, respectively (chi 2 =107.27). Conclusions: on Chagas disease. An adequate educational intervention will allow the acquisition of new knowledge and revert a negative initial diagnosis. The teaching in this global parasitosis must be continuous. Teaching-learning of Chagas disease is not only important in countries where the disease is endemic, but also in no endemic countries where the disease exists through immigration. in health teams before and after an educational intervention. We selected 166 professionals who were related which Chagas disease to whom the BEII (before The members of the health teams in endemic areas of Chile, don’t have the necessary knowledge teams pre and post educational intervention. J o u r n a l o f C o m m u n it y M e d ic i n e & H e a l t h E d u c a t i o n ISSN: 2161-0711 Community Medicine & Health Education