 In Argentina , the disease is known as mal de Chagas @-@ Mazza , in honor of Salvador Mazza , the Argentine physician who in 1926 began investigating the disease and over the years became the principal researcher of this disease in the country . Mazza produced the first scientific confirmation of the existence of Trypanosoma cruzi in Argentina in 1927 , eventually leading to support from local and European medical schools and Argentine government policy makers . 
