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Carlos Justiniano Ribeiro Chagas (; 9 July 1879 – 8 November 1934)<!--full dates in infobox, per MOS-->, was a Brazilian sanitary physician, scientist, and microbiologist who worked as a clinician and researcher. Best known for the discovery of an eponymous protozoal infection called Chagas disease, also called American trypanosomiasis, he also discovered the causative fungi of the pneumocystis pneumonia. He described the two pathogens in 1909, while he was working at the Oswaldo Cruz Institute in Rio de Janeiro, and named the former Trypanosoma cruzi to honour his friend Oswaldo Cruz.

Chagas's work holds a unique place in the history of medicine, Chagas described in detail a previously-unknown infectious disease, its pathogen, vector (Triatominae), host, clinical manifestations, and epidemiology. Chagas was also the first to discover and illustrate the parasitic fungal genus Pneumocystis, which later became infamous for being linked to pneumocystis pneumonia in AIDS patients. where the family spent half of their times. He was the eldest of four children, and his father died when he was four years old. At age seven, his mother enrolled him to Jesuit boarding school in São Paulo. In 1888, a political turmoil erupted as Emperor Dom Pedro II declared abolition of slavery. Chagas was compelled to leave the school. His mother then transferred him to a nearer Catholic school called San Antonio, where he completed up to his secondary studies.

Chagas entered the School of Mining Engineering at Ouro Preto, but suffered from beri-beri in 1895 that incapacitated him from continuing those studies. While recovering in Oliveira, his uncle Carlos Ribeiro de Castro, an established physician, persuaded him to take up medicine.

For the dissertation research, Fajardo introduced Chagas to Oswaldo Cruz (1872–1917) founder of the Manguinhos Institute (which was later renamed after Cruz) who would be most suitable to guide him. This led to a lasting friendship between Chagas and Cruz, and Chagas's lifelong association with Cruz's institute.

Early career

After a brief stint as a medical practitioner in the hinterlands, Chagas accepted a position in anti-malarial campaigns. In 1905, he worked under the Docas de Santos company in the port authority of Santos, São Paulo, with the mission of fighting the malaria epidemic, which was affecting its workers. With successful malaria prevention, the company was able to complete construction on the port. in honor of Oswaldo Cruz and later that year as Schizotrypanum cruzi, and then once again as Trypanosoma cruzi.

Chagas's initial suspicion that the parasite could infect human and other vertebrates was proven right: he soon found the parasites in the blood of a cat. a two-year-old girl whom he had seen in the same hut where that cat had been a few weeks before.

Chagas heart disease

Upon discovering Trypanosoma cruzi as the parasite of humans, Chagas additionally discovered that the parasite was responsible for a deadly heart disease now known as Chagas heart disease or Chagas cardiomyopathy. In 1909, he reported in the Brazilian medical journal, Brazil Médico, a case of human trypanosomiasis and noted the association with severe heart disease. In 1910, he further noticed that the parasitic infection could be classified into at least three different conditions, chronic heart disease, brain disorder, and thyroid problem, especially of goiter. He made an autopsy report of an individual with heart failure whom he found to have heavy trypanosome infection that was associated with blood cell accumulation (interstitial mononuclear cell infiltration) in the heart.

Trypanosoma minasense and Pneumocystis

Chagas was also the first to discover the parasitic fungal genus Pneumocystis in the lungs of his experimentally trypanosome-infected guinea pigs. In 1908, he reported in Brazil Médico the blood sample of marmosets had protozoan parasites that he named Trypanosoma minasense. He also described in it that the parasite was associated with another protozoan but which he could not identify. At the time, he did not recognize it as a separate organism from the protozoan he had identified, but believed it as part of the life cycle stage of the protozoan. Therefore, he described both the fungi and the protozoan as Schizotrypanum cruzi. The original name of the species Pneumocystis carinii was later changed to Pneumocystis jirovecii when it was established that the parasite is a fungus that causes human infection. Chagas followed the literature closely and quickly confirmed the distinction, whereupon he again adopted the name Trypanosoma cruzi for the protozoan.

Personal life

Chagas was a studious student. At the medical school, he was nicknamed "two-candle student" as he would use up two candles every evening for reading as there was no electricity in Rio de Janeiro at the time. It was during his medical course that his teacher, Miguel Couto, introduced him to a relative, Fernando Lobo. He eventually married Lobo's daughter, Iris. From 1920 to 1924, he became the director of the Department of Health in Brazil, the set up of which he initiated. Chagas was very active in organizing special health-care and prevention services and campaigns for the Spanish flu epidemics, sexually transmitted diseases, leprosy, pediatrics, tuberculosis, and rural endemic diseases. He created a nursing school and was the founder of the concept of sanitary medicine, the first chairman of tropical medicine and the graduate study of hygiene. commemorating the day Chagas discovered T. cruzi from Berenice.

References

Further reading

  • (Internet Archive)
  • Carlos Justiniano Ribeiro Chagas. WhoNamedIt.
  • Dr. Carlos Chagas
  • Historical aspects of Chagas disease . Instituto Oswaldo Cruz.