Patients suffering from Chagas disease, a debilitating and potentially fatal insect-borne illness, could be cured with a two-week course of drugs instead of the current 60-day regimen, a study has shown.

The research, led by the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), found that a shorter course of benznidazole, the drug most commonly used to treat Chagas, was just as effective as the longer treatment course and caused fewer side effects.

Some 80 per cent of patients were found to be clear of the disease a year later on both regimens.

Chagas disease, which is typically found in Latin America and affects the poorest communities, is spread through the bite of the triatomine bug, a bloodsucking insect which carries a parasite in its faeces.

The insect is known as the “kissing bug” due to its penchant for biting its victims on the face while they sleep, before defecating near the bite.

When someone rubs or scratches the bite the infected faeces enters the body through the wound, the eyes or the mouth.