A POTENTIALLY life-threatening disease is making its way into the United States through a parasite called Chagas, also known as the “kissing bug.”
The Centers for Disease Control reported in July that an estimated 300,000 people in the US were infected, but the number of cases has surpassed that, according to Al Jazeera.
“This is a real health concern in the United States that deserves much more attention, research and funding for patient care and education,” said Dr. Jennifer Manne-Goehler, a clinical fellow at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and lead author of this study.
For the most part, Chagas disease is a silent one.
“People don’t normally feel sick, so they don’t seek medical care, but it ultimately ends up causing heart disease in about 30 percent of those who are infected,” Melissa Nolan Garcia, research associate at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and co-author of a separate study on Chagas disease in Texas in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene said in a statement.
The primary way in which a host becomes infected is when the parasite feeds on them, usually on the face while they’re sleeping; then it ingests the host’s blood and defecates near the wound site. The victim may then unintentionally rub the feces into the wound, mouth or eyes.
Victims can remain infected for up to 20 years before organ failure begins. Cardiac and intestinal complications can develop in the chronic phase of the disease, such as heart failure and an enlarged colon.
Symptoms of the disease may include fatigue, fever, headache, loss of appetite, rashes, vomiting and body aches. Further examination of infected patients can reveal swollen glands, an enlarged liver or spleen and swelling where the parasite invaded the body.
A lack of awareness of Chagas disease exists among US health care workers, and symptoms shown by those infected can be erroneously diagnosed as another illness.
“The concerning thing is that majority of the patients [I spoke to] are going to physicians, and the physicians are telling them, ‘No you don’t have the disease,’” Garcia told Al Jazeera.
At the moment, there are no government-authorized treatments for this disease. Two options – nifurtimox and benznidazole – are presently used to treat infected patients, but have not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Additionally, side effects associated with these drugs may cause nausea, weight loss and nerve damage, according to a statement from the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygeine.
Chagas disease is native to Mexico, Central America and South America, where an estimated 8 million people are infected.
Infection can also spread via blood transfusions and organ donations from those with the disease. Between 2007 and 2013, a total of 1,908 blood donors were confirmed positive with Chagas disease, though only 422 of these received treatment from the CDC.
Infected pregnant women who are infected can also pass the disease down to their child. Fox News Latino reported that research suggests 40,000 pregnant women in North America may have Chagas disease, which could result in 2,000 cases of mother-to-child transmissions of the infection.
In Northern Virginia, there are about 24 documented cases of the disease, The Atlantic reported. However, medical experts said it wouldn’t be surprising if more cases existed, as the majority of victims are typically undocumented immigrants who lack health insurance.
Cardiologist Dr. Rachel Marcus told The Atlantic said she believes Northern Virginia could be “ground zero” for the disease, as many immigrants there come from Bolivia, an area where the disease originates.
Marcus also said that Chagas disease can be easily diagnosed with an electrocardiogram. However, American doctors are unaware of what to look for.
“If you were to find that EKG from an area where Chagas is common, it’s diagnostic,” she told The Atlantic.
(With reports from Al Jazeera, RT.com, The Atlantic, and USA Today)