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‘Kissing bug’ disease is here to stay in the US, experts say. Here’s why it’s spreading [[https://trip-scan.co/|tripscan top]]

Chagas disease, a potentially deadly condition caused by a parasite carried by insects called kissing bugs, should now be considered endemic in the United States, experts say – and without recognition that it’s a constant presence in some parts of the country, more people will suffer unnecessarily.

A report on the topic was published last week in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, and the authors say they hope that growing global attention on the new paper means Chagas could finally get the surveillance, prevention and testing efforts and research funding it deserves in the United States.

“We’ve been waiting forever; all of us Chagas people have been waiting for people to recognize this disease is in our communities,” said Dr. Norman Beatty, coauthor of the report and a clinical associate professor at the University of Florida College of Medicine’s Division of Infectious Diseases & Global Medicine who has studied Chagas for the past decade.
The World Health Organization considers Chagas a neglected tropical disease, and the Pan American Health Organization says it is endemic – with a constant presence or usual prevalence – in 21 other countries in the Americas, not including the United States. Chagas is one of the leading causes of heart disease in Latin America, and it causes more disability than other insect-borne infections, even more than malaria and Zika, studies show.

Chagas largely spreads when triatomine bugs, commonly known as kissing bugs, bite a human while they’re sleeping. The bug defecates in that bite or on a person’s face, and the person unwittingly wipes the feces into their eyes, nose or mouth. The feces can carry a parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi, that causes the disease.

Chagas can also spread through contaminated food or blood, organ transplants and pregnancy.

Early symptoms can include fever, body aches, headaches, rash, vomiting and tiredness. They may last weeks or even months after initial infection.

According to the CDC, about 20% to 30% of people who’ve been infected develop more serious problems like long-term digestive and nervous system conditions, heart failure, stroke or death.

If it’s caught early, the disease can be cured with benznidazole or nifurtimox, medicines that kill the parasite. But the drugs become less effective the longer a person has been infected, and most people remain unaware of the disease. Many doctors don’t think to look for it in patients in the US, the new report noted.

In fact, some people who are infected find out some time later, when they donate blood, since the US has been testing its blood supply for Chagas since 2007.

Related article
A health inspector holds a beaked bug ( Triatoma dimidiata ) in Carpenter , Department of Francisco Morazan , 20 km north of Tegucigalpa on 17 May 2005. According to official statistics of the Ministry of Health , through the National Program for Chagas , 300 000 people including children and adults are infected with the " Chagas disease " transmitted by this species , registering the highest infection rate in rural areas of the west
EL CARPINTERO, HONDURAS:  Un inspector sanitario sostiene una chinche picuda (Triatoma Dimidiata) en El Carpintero, departamento de Francisco Morazan, 20 km al norte de Tegucigalpa el 17 de mayo de 2005. Segun estadisticas oficiales de la Secretaria de Salud, a traves del Programa Nacional de Chagas, 300 mil personas incluyendo ninos y adultos estan infectados con el "Mal de Chagas" transmitido por esta especie, registrandose el mayor indice de infeccion en las areas rurales del oeste.   AFP PHOTO/ELMER MARTINEZ  (Photo credit should read ELMER MARTINEZ/AFP/Getty Images)
‘Kissing bug’ disease more deadly than thought

Surveillance is limited, but the CDC estimates that about 280,000 people in the US have Chagas at any given time. It’s unclear how many have the more serious form of the disease or how many deaths are caused by Chagas each year.

Scientists have found kissing bugs in 32 states, the new report says. The blood-sucking insect mostly lives in warmer Southern states, but with climate change causing more bug-friendly temperatures, there’s a good chance they have spread farther.

Scientistst have identified at least 17 states with infected mammals, including Virginia opossums, raccoons, banded armadillos, striped skunks, coyotes and wood rats, according to the latest report. Veterinarians have seen infections in zoo animals and pets, including cats, dogs and a horse.

Doctors have reported Chagas cases in humans in eight states: Arkansas, Arizona, California, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. There are probably more cases, the new report says, but doctors are not required to report Chagas infections in most states.

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