Parasiticides: Nifurtimox and Benznidazole

Andean traditional medicine provides treatments for Chagas’ disease as well as insecticides that may even be better than the present products produced by pharmaceutical and chemical companies. Western biomedicine does not have an effective cure for chronic Chagas’ disease. Presently, the two prescription drugs used for treating Chagas’ disease are nifurtimox (produced by Bayer, recently discontinued) and benznidazole (Roche), used for acute and chronic phases (see Appendix 13). Bolivians find both costly, unsatisfactory, and painful, and many prefer to go to native herbalists for cures. Neither drug is available in the United States, except through special permission from the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. No drug is registered for use to help prevent Chagas’ disease.

Nifurtimox and benznidazole are used in short‑term cases, but their efficacy varies in different geographical areas, probably as a consequence of variation of parasitic strains. Many patients object to taking large doses of these drugs over a long period of time (as long as one year).[13]Patients can also suffer serious side effects, including anorexia, vomiting, skin allergies, and various neurological disorders, which may be a consequence of damage to their tissues (Urbina et al. 1996). Bolivians also realize that the pharmaceutical cure is only temporary if they live in chagasic areas, as it is likely they will be reinfected with T. cruzi. One advantage of actually harboring T. cruzi is that it provides partial immunity from suffering another acute attack.

The complexity of Chagas’ disease has been addressed by Andean culture in a number of ways. Andeans deal with the symptoms of Chagas’ disease through rituals, community concern, and herbal medicines. Yachajs and yatiris have combined forces with doctors to combat or adapt to T. cruzi. They appear to have dealt with Chagas’ disease as adequately as has biomedicine. Even if this is not so, its possibility necessitates much closer examination of ethnomedical systems for solutions to endemic diseases throughout the world. Andean rituals also provide a great service to medical science by indicating the interrelatedness of Chagas’ disease to the environment, showing how the human body is related to the earth and its organisms in reciprocal ways.