his work was closely followed by that of carlos chagas, a carioca physician who eventually became a friend and colleague of cruz after working in his institute. chagas is noted for his groundbreaking work in infectious diseases

in 1909 he discovered a previously unknown disease known as chagas disease or american trypanosomiasis. despite the primitive conditions at the time, chagas was able to identify the pathogen, host, clinical manifestations and epidemiology of this disease.

in addition, he discovered pneumocystis, a parasitic disease that is related to pcp, a form of pneumonia experienced by aids victims. after making these discoveries while working at the oswaldo cruz institute, chagas received significant international recognition, and was twice nominated for the nobel prize.