Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Chagas disease is caused by infection with the protozoan parasite T. cruzi, which is typically introduced into humans through the bite of triatomine bugs, also called "kissing bugs". [4] When the insect defecates at the bite site, motile T. cruzi forms called trypomastigotes enter the bloodstream and invade various host cells. [5]
This behaviour causes disease or the likelihood of disease that varies with the organism: Chagas disease in humans, dourine and surra in horses, and a brucellosis-like disease in cattle. Parasites need a host body and the haematophagous insect triatomine (descriptions "assassin bug", "cone-nose bug", and "kissing bug") is the major vector in ...
Chagas Disease is spread when an infected triatomine defecates on or near a host, causing the parasite to enter the body of the host, usually through the site of a wound. [2] This is usually how T. cruzi is transmitted, but it can also occur during blood transfusion, organ donation or the consumption of contaminated food or drink. [2]
Bolivia has the highest rate of Chagas in the world, and it's common for pregnant women to be screened for the disease because there's a high risk they could pass it on to their children.
The disease has spread to the U.S. in the last 40 years, says the American Heart Association, but many doctors are unfamiliar with how to diagnose and treat it.
Doctors, researchers, and patient advocates say the U.S. could be doing far more to combat Chagas, which causes serious heart disease in an estimated 30% of infected people and can also lead to ...
Triatoma infestans, commonly called winchuka [1] or vinchuca [2] in Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay and Chile, barbeiro in Brazil, chipo in Venezuela and also known as "kissing bug" or "barber bug" in English, is a blood-sucking bug (like virtually all the members of its subfamily Triatominae) and the most important vector of Trypanosoma cruzi which can lead to Chagas disease.
In areas where Chagas disease occurs (from the southern United States to northern Argentina), all triatomine species are potential vectors of the Chagas disease parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, but only those species that are well adapted to living with humans (such as Triatoma infestans and Rhodnius prolixus) are considered