Article (Transfusion -- March 8, 2012): The United States Trypanosoma cruzi Infection Study: Evidence for Vector-borne Transmission of the Parasite That Causes Chagas Disease Among United States Blood Donors.
The ALS Association says the average lifespan of someone diagnosed with the condition is between two and five years. More than 50 percent make it past year three. Twenty percent make it past year five. From there, the number plummets. Less than 5 percent make it past two decades.
How many people have died from ALS? ALS is fatal in about 95% of the cases, time is variable between 3 and 20 years. About 5000 people each year are diagnosed with ALS, so generically/mathematically, about 4700 people die annually.