ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2014
Opportunity cost for early treatment of Chagas disease in Mexico.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 45 citations in OpenAlex.
- The economic burden of Chagas disease: A systematic review.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2023Pooled it
- Trypanocidal drugs for late-stage, symptomatic Chagas disease (Trypanosoma cruzi infection).The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Estimating the current burden of Chagas disease in Mexico: A systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological surveys from 2006 to 2017.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2019Pooled it
- Successful control of Triatoma dimidiata with residual application of a microencapsulated formulation of pirimiphos-methyl (Actellic 300CS) in southeast Mexico.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Diagnosis of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in Mexican populations: current conventional serology lacks adequate sensitivity and specificity.Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz · 2025Article
- What Do You Need to Know before Studying Chagas Disease? A Beginner's Guide.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2023Review
- Navigating drug repurposing for Chagas disease: advances, challenges, and opportunities.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Review
- Roadblocks in Chagas disease care in endemic and nonendemic countries: Argentina, Colombia, Spain, and the United States. The NET-Heart project.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2021Review
- Disagreement between PCR and serological diagnosis of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in blood donors from a Colombian endemic region.Biomedica : revista del Instituto Nacional de Salud · 2021Article
- Economic evaluations addressing diagnosis and treatment strategies for neglected tropical diseases: an overview.Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de Sao Paulo · 2021Review
- Electrolyzed Oxidizing Water Modulates the Immune Response in BALB/c Mice Experimentally Infected withPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- Genetic variation and phylogeography of the Triatoma dimidiata complex evidence a potential center of origin and recent divergence of haplogroups having differential Trypanosoma cruzi and DTU infections.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2019Article
- The economic value of identifying and treating Chagas disease patients earlier and the impact on Trypanosoma cruzi transmission.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2018Article
- Congenital Chagas Disease in the United States: Cost Savings through Maternal Screening.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2018Article
- Socioeconomic benefit to individuals of achieving 2020 targets for four neglected tropical diseases controlled/eliminated by innovative and intensified disease management: Human African trypanosomiasis, leprosy, visceral leishmaniasis, Chagas disease.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2018Article
- Biosensors to Diagnose Chagas Disease: A Brief Review.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2017Review
- Chagas Disease Infection among Migrants at the Mexico/Guatemala Border.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2017Article
- Serological Diagnosis of Chronic Chagas Disease: Is It Time for a Change?Journal of clinical microbiology · 2016Article
- Cost-Effectiveness of Blood Donation Screening for Trypanosoma cruzi in Mexico.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2016Article
- Medical Expenditure for Chronic Diseases in Mexico: The Case of Selected Diagnoses Treated by the Largest Care Providers.PloS one · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundGiven current neglect for Chagas disease in public health programs in Mexico, future healthcare and economic development policies will need a more robust model to analyze costs and impacts of timely clinical attention of infected populations. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL
findingsA Markov decision model was constructed to simulate the natural history of a Chagas disease cohort in Mexico and to project the associated short and long-term clinical outcomes and corresponding costs. The lifetime cost for a timely diagnosed and treated Chagas disease patient is US$ 10,160, while the cost for an undiagnosed individual is US$ 11,877. The cost of a diagnosed and treated case increases 24-fold from early acute to indeterminate stage. The major cost component for lifetime cost was working days lost, between 44% and 75%, depending on the program scenario for timely diagnosis and treatment. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: In the long term, it is cheaper to diagnose and treat chagasic patients early, instead of doing nothing. This finding by itself argues for the need to shift current policy, in order to prioritize and attend this neglected disease for the benefit of social and economic development, which implies including treatment drugs in the national formularies. Present results are even more relevant, if one considers that timely diagnosis and treatment can arrest clinical progression and enhance a chronic patient's quality of life.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.