Chagas disease: still a challenge around the world.

Very early in the history of human Chagas disease (HCD), the discoverer called upon scientists and governments to take responsibility for facing its medical and social consequences. It was an almost insurmountable task, since effective insecticides and drugs for medical treatment were not available at that time, and HCD was not recognized by the scientific community. Before his death in 1934, Carlos Chagas could not see anyone paying attention to his appeals. Nevertheless, a new era arose from his ideas that were taken up by his disciples and scientific followers(1) (2) (3) (4).