The disease is known as a “silent killer” because the infection can remain dormant in the bloodstream for decades.
Up to a third of people with Chagas will suffer heart damage that becomes evident only many years later and can lead to progressive heart failure or sudden death. Chagas kills more people in Latin America each year than any other parasitic disease, including malaria.
As adults they range in size from 0.5 to over 1 inch (13.0 to 33.0 mm) in length. Kissing bugs get their name because these insects often bite people while they are sleeping, and often bite around the mouth or on the face. They are also known as conenose bugs, triatomine bugs, and Hualapai (or Wallapai) tigers.
If untreated, infection is lifelong. Acute Chagas disease occurs immediately after infection, and can last up to a few weeks or months. During the acute phase, parasites may be found in the circulating blood. This phase of infection is usually mild or asymptomatic.
Key facts. About 6–7 million people worldwide, mostly in Latin America, are estimated to be infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas disease.
Chagas disease is named after the Brazilian physician Carlos Chagas, who discovered the disease in 1909. It is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, which is transmitted to animals and people by insect vectors and is found only in the Americas (mainly, in rural areas of Latin America where poverty is widespread).
In the Americas, Chagas disease show an annual incidence of 30,000 new cases average, 14,000 deaths per year, and 8,000 newborns become infected during gestation.
The following factors may increase your risk of getting Chagas disease: Living in poor rural areas of Central America, South America and Mexico. Living in a residence that contains triatomine bugs. Receiving a blood transfusion or organ transplant from a person who carries the infection.
Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona are the states with the most different species and most findings of kissing bugs. Scientists have found that about 50% of kissing bugs are infected with the Chagas parasite. Kissing bugs are a 'vector' because they can carry a parasite that can make people and animal sick.
More than 5 million people worldwide have Chagas disease. In the United States, there are estimated to be at least 300,000 cases of chronic Chagas disease among people originally from countries of Latin America where Chagas disease is endemic.
Most of the world's kissing bugs are in Central and South America and Mexico. They've also been found in the United States in the lower 28 states, with higher concentrations in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico.
Kissing bugs are also able to sing, although the purpose of stridulating or sound production is unknown.
Kissing bugs are nocturnal, meaning that they hide during the day and are most active at night. Kissing bugs will normally hide during the day and come out at night, biting and feeding on a person's blood while they sleep.
Kissing bugs are blood-feeding insects that live in the southern and western United States, Mexico, and parts of Central and South America.
Various triatomine bugs in all life stages, from eggs to nymphs to fully grown adults. A variety of bug species, that share similar traits, are pictured. Triatomine bugs are a type of reduviid bug that can carry Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas disease.
Chagas disease is curable if treated soon after infection. Unfortunately, most infected people are unaware of their infection until it's too late, and they present with complications of chronic heart or bowel problems.
Kissing bugs can be attracted by light. Consider turning off lights near homes and kennels at night. Kissing bugs may live with rodents. Discourage kissing bugs and rodents by removing yard debris and keeping vegetation low.
Kissing bugs can be hard to get rid of. Bugs can hide in cracks and crevices in the mattress, bed frame, and box spring. They can spread into cracks and crevices in the room and lay their eggs.
Use pyrethroid insecticides: While there isn't a spray specifically made to kill kissing bugs, pyrethroid insecticides can work.
Chagas disease is common in parts of Mexico, Central America, and South America where an estimated 8 million people are infected.
Chronic infections are asymptomatic in two thirds of the human population. Chronic Chagas disease affects mostly the heart and the digestive tract. Arrhythmias and congestive heart failure are ominous signs of the disease. Megaoesophagus and megacolon cause dysphagia and constipation, respectively.
People who have Chagas disease can be found anywhere in the world. However, transmission of the disease by kissing bugs (vectorborne transmission), only occurs in the Americas. Most people with Chagas disease became infected in rural areas of Mexico, Central America, and South America.
Trypanosoma cruzi infection can be transmitted sexually from males and females to naïve mates. T. cruzi parasites were detected in semen ejaculates from individuals with Chagas disease by nucleic acid techniques.
Chagas disease is usually transmitted by blood-sucking insects of the reduviid family, also known as kissing bugs in the United States and chinches in Mexico and Central America. Other forms of transmission are also possible, although the disease is not contagious through everyday or sexual contact.
These studies have demonstrated that a significant proportion of the variation in seropositivity and a number of traits related to Chagas disease progression is attributable to genetic factors.