Bugs in the News!

Have you ever heard of the "kissing bug"?  Despite the sweet name, this isn't a bug you want to cuddle up with.  It gets it's name because it tends to bite people on the lips.



 

photo courtesy of wikipedia.org

Kissing bugs, sometimes called assassin bugs, have been in the news lately because of an infection they spread called Chagas Disease.  Chagas Disease was named after the Brazilian doctor who discovered it, Carlos Chagas.  So, why the big uproar about them lately?  An article was recently published in the Public Library of Science journal which has caused some controversy.  Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of Baylor College of Medicine's National School of Tropical Medicine, compared Chagas to HIV/AIDS.  The diseases themselves are different, but Hotez says he was trying to "call attention to the disease; make people aware of it.

The kissing bugs that cause Chagas thrive in the thatched roofs, stick and mud construction found in rural and poor regions of Central and South America.  There are roughly 10 million people in these areas that are infected with Chagas.  In the US, around 300,000 people have Chagas.  However, they were likely infected before coming to the US.  Bites typically happen at night, and parasites from the bug's feces infect the itchy wound.



photo courtesy of wikipedia.org

Although many people live with Chagas without any symptoms, 30% of those infected will develop serious health problems such as heart failure and fatal digestive problems.  The good news is that Chagas can be cured.  The bad news-the drugs needed for this treatment cost around $11,000.  Because most people infected with Chagas are from destitute areas of Latin America, this expensive treatment is out of reach.
"This might be called a forgotten disease of forgotten people-impoverished people in the developing world," says Dr. William Schaffner, chair of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and president of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.  He hopes the comparison between Chagas and HIV will help rally resources.