Researcher brings awareness to Chagas disease with motorcycle trip
A YouTube series featuring a Heritage College researcher is blending the adventurous spirit of traversing parts of South America by motorcycle with scientific exploration, all to bring awareness to Chagas disease, a life-threatening illness associated with insects known as "kissing bugs."
Mario Grijalva, Ph.D., director of the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine's Infectious and Tropical Disease Institute, is the face behind the motorcycle helmet of the YouTube channel Jagarundi Moto Adventure. In each episode, Grijalva travels by motorcycle across Ecuador and other regions, visiting communities affected by the disease and talking about the spread of Chagas and preventative measures that can be taken.
The footage is shot from a camera attached to Grijalva's helmet, allowing viewers to see from his point of view. As he travels an unexplored road, he narrates his experience.
"The views of the valleys and mountains are spectacular," Grijalva said to the audience in episode 29, while he rumbled over the path. But the views are not the main purpose for chronicling his travels.
Chagas disease is a tropical disease caused by the Trypanosoma cruzi parasite, affecting around 8 million people worldwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Predominantly seen in Latin America, its spread has reached North America, posing a risk to an estimated 70 million people. Transmitted mainly by the kissing bugs, it can also spread through contaminated food, mother-to-child, blood transfusions and organ transplants. Initial symptoms are often mild, but untreated, it can lead to serious heart and digestive problems. As a neglected disease, it receives limited attention for research, treatment and prevention, impacting mostly poor and rural populations.
In a recently published historical review of Chagas, Grijalva and a team of international experts shed light on current challenges and future directions for global health efforts in the fight against Chagas. Their work not only advances scientific knowledge but provides insights into potential improvements to patient care and how the international public health community can address the often neglected disease, ultimately contributing to efforts to eradicate it.
"Chagas disease is not just a problem for Latin America," Grijalva said. "With global travel and migration, the disease has spread to non-endemic regions, including the U.S. People in Ohio and across the country need to be aware of this disease to improve diagnosis and treatment."
Today, it is estimated that over 288,000 people are living with Chagas in the U.S. Both the parasite–Trypanosoma cruzi–and the insects that transmit it are now present in southern portions of the country, presenting an increased risk for transmission beyond endemic regions, primarily located in rural parts of Latin America.
In the historical review, Grijalva explains that advancements in diagnosing have evolved, with current techniques such as rapid diagnostic tests making detection more accessible. However, the chronic phase of the disease remains challenging to treat, with current drugs presenting limitations and severe side effects. Additionally, social and political barriers still exist, due in part to the primarily marginalized population Chagas affects–those living in rural regions of South and Central America with high poverty rates and limited access to health care—which limit the uptake of treatment and diagnostic resources.
Mario Grijalva, Ph.D., director of the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine's Infectious and Tropical Disease Institute
"Chagas disease is not just a problem for Latin America. With global travel and migration, the disease has spread to non-endemic regions, including the U.S. People in Ohio and across the country need to be aware of this disease to improve diagnosis and treatment."
In the U.S. specifically, limited awareness by health care providers and the general public is the biggest barrier to addressing Chagas, according to a 2019 review of the disease. The work of Grijalva and his collaborators is critical for ensuring the disease remains at the forefront of conversations surrounding global public health.
“What this really highlights is the importance of taking a multidisciplinary approach to tackling Chagas disease,” Grijalva said. “Enhanced diagnostics, improved treatment accessibility, sustained control efforts, and global collaboration are all crucial if we want to work toward reducing the disease's impact and, hopefully, see its eventual eradication.”
Jaguarundi Moto Adventures is part of that effort. Grijalva recently returned to Ecuador after spending the winter in Ohio. Now that he has returned to Ecuador, he will be back on the road with his motorcycle, chronicling the research and awareness efforts that he and his team of 23 students from Ohio University and 23 students from the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador will be undertaking.
In the YouTube series, Grijalva takes viewers along as he travels to different research sites and communities impacted by Chagas disease. He also checks in on fieldwork, something he has spent much of his life doing.
Based on more than two decades of focused research and fieldwork, Grijalva is an internationally recognized expert on the spread of infectious diseases and is perhaps one of the world’s premier experts on Chagas disease. Chagas has been prevalent for decades in his native country of Ecuador, where he pursues an ongoing campaign to prevent the spread of the potentially lethal disease with support from agencies including the World Health Organization, the National Institutes of Health, the Pan American Health Organization and the European Union’s Chagas Disease Epidemiological Network.
In June 2016, Grijalva visited Ecuador with a delegation from Ohio University for the opening of the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador’s Center for Research in Health in Latin America, which he directed until 2023 when Ohio University graduate Jaime Costales, Ph.D., took over the position. The center is one of the most advanced research facilities in Latin America, providing opportunities and resources for faculty and students from both universities to collaborate in studying the prevention, detection, diagnosis and treatment of Chagas and other diseases.
This historical review, titled "Chagas Disease across the Ages: A Historical View and Commentary on Navigating Future Challenges," is published in the journal "Microorganisms." In addition to Grijalva, the review was conducted in collaboration with two researchers from the Institute of Research for Development (IRD) in Montpellier, France, lead author Denis Sereno, Ph.D., and co-author Bruno Oury, Ph.D.
Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine
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