Abbott gets FDA OK for test

LIBERTYVILLE TOWNSHIP - Abbott announced Wednesday it has received U.S. FDA approval for the Abbott Prism Chagas test, a fully automated blood screening test.

As many as 11 million people are infected worldwide with Chagas' disease, which is most commonly spread through contact with the bloodsucking triatomine insect or "kissing bug." If left undiagnosed and untreated, Chagas' disease, one of a group of 13 tropical diseases that affect the world's poor, can result in death.