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A disease being incorrectly dubbed the "new AIDS" is being spread by tiny parasitic insects from Latin America northwards to the USA.
Chagas Disease (also called American Trypanosomiasis) is carried by a small black wingless beetle called the Triatoma bug that sucks human blood in the area around the lips. As a result it has come to be called the "kissing bug". The disease may also be spread from human to human by way of organ transplantation, from a mother to her developing foetus and/or blood transfusions. It can also transmitted through the consumption of contaminated foods.
How is Chagas Spread?
Requiring no passports at the US border, these bugs are incredibly hard to detect. Chagas disease has infected over 300 thousand people in the United States and somewhere in the area of 8 million people worldwide. Once limited to Latin American countries, the disease is spreading through infected travellers going north to the USA or other countries such as the UK and Europe by infected carriers. The beetle feeds round the lips of sleepers, earning it the nickname "the kissing bug". Once fed it releases a parasite called Trypanosoma cruzi. A waking person scratches the eggs and unwittingly smears them under their fingernails and into the mouth and pores.
Chagas Disease Symptoms
Unfortunately Chagas Disease has a long incubation period and uses considerable stealth to avoid detection. There are two stages - acute and severe. Common symptoms in the acute stage include general illnesses, high temperatures, skin problems, brain toxicity, unusual irritations in the colon or a swelling in typically just one eye. Then a remission may set in for as long as several years, but don't be fooled - it's preparing itself for the second stage. Sufferers will then start to experience constipation and painful digestive issues. At this point the heart and gut viscera swell until they burst, causing sudden death.
Can Chagas disease be prevented?
Antiparasitic treatments for Chagas Disease will help delay or even perhaps stop the condition developing. As usual prevention is better than trying to find remedies once the condition has set in. Known in South America as an illness of the poor, there's a resultant stigma attached to the condition and consequently there isn't much money invested in finding new treatments.
Chagas Disease (also called American Trypanosomiasis) is carried by a small black wingless beetle called the Triatoma bug that sucks human blood in the area around the lips. As a result it has come to be called the "kissing bug". The disease may also be spread from human to human by way of organ transplantation, from a mother to her developing foetus and/or blood transfusions. It can also transmitted through the consumption of contaminated foods.
How is Chagas Spread?
Requiring no passports at the US border, these bugs are incredibly hard to detect. Chagas disease has infected over 300 thousand people in the United States and somewhere in the area of 8 million people worldwide. Once limited to Latin American countries, the disease is spreading through infected travellers going north to the USA or other countries such as the UK and Europe by infected carriers. The beetle feeds round the lips of sleepers, earning it the nickname "the kissing bug". Once fed it releases a parasite called Trypanosoma cruzi. A waking person scratches the eggs and unwittingly smears them under their fingernails and into the mouth and pores.
Chagas Disease Symptoms
Unfortunately Chagas Disease has a long incubation period and uses considerable stealth to avoid detection. There are two stages - acute and severe. Common symptoms in the acute stage include general illnesses, high temperatures, skin problems, brain toxicity, unusual irritations in the colon or a swelling in typically just one eye. Then a remission may set in for as long as several years, but don't be fooled - it's preparing itself for the second stage. Sufferers will then start to experience constipation and painful digestive issues. At this point the heart and gut viscera swell until they burst, causing sudden death.
Can Chagas disease be prevented?
Antiparasitic treatments for Chagas Disease will help delay or even perhaps stop the condition developing. As usual prevention is better than trying to find remedies once the condition has set in. Known in South America as an illness of the poor, there's a resultant stigma attached to the condition and consequently there isn't much money invested in finding new treatments.
About the Author:
From a family of
Clydeside Scots, Graeme was born and brought up in Hong Kong. He lived for 35
years there, as well as in Borneo and Indonesia. Intrigued by the way in which
the different Asian cultures approach their health and wellbeing, he studied
aspects of Traditional Chinese Medicine and became familiar with many other
time-honoured healing methods, from the traditional Jamu herbal medicine
healers of Java to the body balancing mechanisms of Jin Shin Jyutsu, from
Japan. Together with his wife Phylipa, Graeme runs Resources For Life, a
natural health business in Chichester, West Sussex. Much of what is
available on their website has origins steeped in ancient wisdom.Click here for more information on the Ancient Herbal Remedies that have been used for centuries by the Mediterranean people to eliminate parasites.
Clydeside Scots, Graeme was born and brought up in Hong Kong. He lived for 35
years there, as well as in Borneo and Indonesia. Intrigued by the way in which
the different Asian cultures approach their health and wellbeing, he studied
aspects of Traditional Chinese Medicine and became familiar with many other
time-honoured healing methods, from the traditional Jamu herbal medicine
healers of Java to the body balancing mechanisms of Jin Shin Jyutsu, from
Japan. Together with his wife Phylipa, Graeme runs Resources For Life, a
natural health business in Chichester, West Sussex. Much of what is
available on their website has origins steeped in ancient wisdom.Click here for more information on the Ancient Herbal Remedies that have been used for centuries by the Mediterranean people to eliminate parasites.
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