American health officials have issued warnings about previously vague diseases that were spread by bloody insects called kiss bugs.
"There's no need to panic, but our report has been here for a long time and raises awareness of diseases that may be more common than suspected," says one of the authors. Dr. Sarah Hammer, Veterinary ecologist specializing in wildlife diseases at Texas A&M University Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences.
"These blood feeders are seduced by hosts based on carbon dioxide [the gas we exhale]and the biggest concentration comes from the mouth and nose," says Dr. Hammer.
Insects can carry it Trypanosoma curji The parasite that causes Chagas disease is named after Carlos Chagas, a Brazilian doctor who discovered it. Parasites enter the human body through kissing insect feces. This usually involves biting and defecation on people sleeping at night.
Most people with Chagas disease do not experience immediate symptoms - or, if so, the illness is usually mild and temporary.
"It's a really quiet murderer." Norman Beatty, Maryland, He is an associate professor of infectious diseases and world medicine at University of Florida Health in Jacksonville and co-author of the new report. "It can take decades for a person to develop symptoms. These are often heart-related and can cause them. heart failure" he says.
Heart-related symptoms from Chagas disease include:
Chagas disease can also slow down digestive problems such as:
The authors of a new report on Chagas disease warn that dogs are often susceptible to infection, and sometimes cats are also susceptible to infection. Texas is the only state where animal Chagas disease is reportable, with 431 dog cases recorded between 2013 and 2015, in addition to two infections in cats and one in horses.
Dr. Beatty says it's unlikely that a pet will bring home a bug that kisses the body, as insects usually bite and then move on. They don't stay in their bodies like mites.
Chagas' disease can be treated with antiparacic drugs. A blood test can confirm the presence of an infection.
Treatment is most effective during the course of the disease, so it is essential to immediately identify Chagas disease.
The CDC says that the best way to prevent Chagas disease is to avoid or limit contact with kissing bugs. For those living in areas where Chagas disease could be a problem, public health officials suggest:
"The hope of this report is not to be wary of people, but to recognize that there is a disease in our community that is consistently transmitted to humans, so we can develop a plan to prevent that infection," says Beatty.