Fundação Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz, Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico em Saúde, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 2022 Apr 15;117:e200277. doi: 10.1590/0074-02760200277. eCollection 2022.
In a previous publication, I stressed the fundamental importance of research for improving health using as an example the control of Chagas disease in the Americas.(1) For that purpose, I analysed the major scientific breakthroughs and public health events from the 1909 discovery of Chagas disease and its causative pathogen, Trypanosoma cruzi, by Carlos Chagas,(2) through the successful control of its transmission by insect vectors in large regions of the Southern Cone countries in the 90s.(3) In the twenty years since that publication, Brazil and Latin American countries had to cope with a number of serious public health threats, old and new: (i) recrudescence of well-known diseases, such as dengue and yellow fever; (ii) emergence of viral diseases that had been restricted to other continents (Zika, Chikungunya); (iii) new epidemics (H1N1) or (iv) pandemics (COVID-19). Are there still some lessons from that success story against a neglected disease of the 90s that would be relevant today in the context of these recent challenges?
在之前的一篇文章中，我强调了研究对于改善健康的重要性，并用控制美洲锥虫病为例。（1）为此，我分析了自卡洛斯·查加斯（Carlos Chagas）于 1909 年发现锥虫病及其病原体克氏锥虫（Trypanosoma cruzi）以来的主要科学突破和公共卫生事件，（2）直至 90 年代在南锥体国家的大部分地区成功控制了通过昆虫媒介传播的疾病。（3）在那篇文章发表后的二十年里，巴西和拉丁美洲国家不得不应对一系列严重的公共卫生威胁，包括新出现的和旧有的：（一）众所周知的疾病（如登革热和黄热病）再次出现；（二）曾经局限于其他大陆的病毒疾病的出现（寨卡病毒、基孔肯雅热）；（三）新的传染病（H1N1）或（四）大流行病（COVID-19）。在应对这些最近的挑战时，在 90 年代针对一种被忽视的疾病取得的成功故事中，是否仍有一些经验教训值得借鉴？
