Thread: New Testing Discloses Hundreds of Cases of Chagas Disesase

From Bexar County, TX

Web Posted: 02/15/2009 12:00 CST

New testing discloses a deadly danger is in Bexar
Say aahhh!: Chagas disease here

By Don Finley - Express-News

For a disease that begins with a bite from the deceptively sweet-sounding kissing bug, Chagas disease is a major killer in some parts of the world.

The bug deposits a parasite that can lurk silently in the body for decades before causing the heart to enlarge — and sometimes the colon or esophagus as well.

Chagas, which afflicts millions in Latin America, was long thought to be largely confined there. But a recently approved test to screen blood donors has identified hundreds of cases across the United States — including eight in Bexar County.

The sudden appearance of these cases has taken some health officials by surprise. And although many of these patients may prove to be immigrants who brought the disease into the United States — or their children, since it can be passed from mother to child — experts believe some were infected in this country.

With new information from the blood banks, they hope to get a better idea of how many. Few here ever are tested for Chagas (pronounced SHAH-gus), even those diagnosed with the classic symptoms.

The Chagas parasite,Trypanosoma cruzi, is passed to humans by kissing bugs, or triatomine insects, which are common throughout the U.S. South. Texas has more types of kissing bugs than any other state, and studies have shown many of the local bugs carry the parasite.

Outbreaks have been discovered in working dogs at Lackland AFB and research primates at Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research.

“The question is, if the bug is here, ifT. cruzi is here, if animals are getting infected — are humans?â€

We tried to tell everyone this was coming. Now it is here.

Let's homepage this under Bio hazard news

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