Chagas Disease a.k.a "Kissing Bug" Silently Kills
I attended the Doctors Without Borders meeting on "Chagas Disease: Break the Silence-Time to Treat" this past Thursday.
Probably like the rest of you, I have never heard of Chagas and the reasons for that are because it is not fully funded, people are not talking about enough, and there is just not enough research and information about it going on.
Chagas kills 14,000 people a year in 21 countries. About 300,000 of those killed by Chagas are in the U.S.
Chagas is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. A bug called the Vinchuca houses this parasite in its body and once the Vinchuca bites, the parasite is released into the blood system. The Vinchuca is also known as the "kissing bug." Chagas is not contagious but can be inherited, or transmitted through blood transfusions and organ transplants. The chronic phase of Chagas is when it doesn't affect a person right away, but it silently destroys the cardiac system. A person that is unaware that they have Chagas, can die suddenly unless they are diagnosed and treated early enough to slow down the disease's process. It is not unheard of for a person engaging in physical activity to suddenly fall unconscious and die because of Chagas. Other known symptoms include itchiness, fever, and swelling where the bites have occurred. Rural Latin countries experience Chagas the most.
Maira Gutierrez was a speaker at the meeting. She was diagnosed with Chagas in 1977 after attempting to donate blood to the Red Cross. She was called and told that her blood could not be used to help others; she was told to go find help for herself. In the beginning she was told there was no treatment and she had a 60% chance that Chagas was going to become fully active in her. Eleven years later, Maira heard a new clinic would be opening in Los Angeles. She was later given drugs to help tame her disease and to calm her heart palpitations. Maira expressed that people assume she was dying and contagious once they found out she had Chagas. But both these assumptions are incorrect. Maira uses her time to promote knowledge now because people are scared of the unknown and would rather turn their heads.
Other facts and info. on Chagas:
*70% of those who have Chagas are Hispanic
*If caught early, there are ways to slow the progression of Chagas.
*There are 9 million people in Bolivia and 1 million of those have Chagas
*There is a lack of knowledge of Chagas in the medical community, therefore treatment and a cure is not up to par.
*Medications used to treat some of the patients are toxic and could cause more damage than help.
*People need to ask to be be tested, not just ask for medication.
* There is a problem getting doctors and nurses involved because Chagas itself is a neglected disease due to lack of information and location.
*Chagas is not an STD.
*Chagas is transmitted from mom to child through the placenta.
*The Vinchuca bug that carries the parasite looks like a beetle bug but with a cone nose.
If you would like to read more on Chagas here are a couple links:
www.TreatChagas.com
Break the silence, pass this information along!
Tags: chagas, diseases, neglect, latin, america, rural, bite, bugs, vinchuca, doctors, health, nutrition, death, endemic
