Chagas Disease

Question: Does anyone know anything about Chagas disease? My sister and I have been getting bit by these assassin bugs and their bites can supposedly cause Chagas disease.... what is it?

Answer: Here is a fact sheet http://www.dhpe.org/infect/Chagas.html http://www.uta.edu/chagas/html/chagSoci.html http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001372.htm

Question: Why are there no symptoms between chronic and acute chagas disease? I make a report about the disease, and I still couldn't find an answer why there are no symptoms occurring between the chronic and the acute phase, though the parasite is still in the body. Also it would be awesome if somebody knows if there is something which is triggering the illness after a couple decades so that it becomes chronic and symptoms occur.

Answer: Acute merely means it was newly diagnosed. Some diseases are considered chronic if they continue to wrsen, or you have the symptoms longer than usual.

Question: I discovered that I have chagas disease, and I would like to have a child, what will be the risk for the baby?

Answer: What is the infectious agent that causes Chagas disease? Chagas disease is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. Where is Chagas disease found? Chagas disease is confined to South and Central America. How do people get Chagas disease? Chagas disease is usually spread by the feces of reduviid bugs, insects that live in cracks and holes of poorly constructed houses and outbuildings in South and Central America. The bugs become infected after biting an infected animal or person. Once infected, the bugs pass Trypanosoma parasites in their feces. People get infected when they unknowingly rub bug feces into their eyes or mouth or into a skin wound or bite. People can also become infected by eating uncooked food contaminated with infected bug feces. Chagas disease can be transmitted by contaminated blood transfusions or by organ transplants. Infected women can pass the infection to their babies during pregnancy, at delivery, or while breastfeeding. What are the signs and symptoms of Chagas disease? Some people can be infected and never develop symptoms. For those who do, Chagas disease has three stages, each with different symptoms. Acute infection -- A few people (about 1% of cases) have symptoms soon after infection. The most recognized acute symptom is swelling of the eye on one side of the face, usually at the bite wound or where feces were rubbed into the eye. Other symptoms are tiredness, fever, enlarged liver or spleen, swollen lymph glands, and sometimes a rash, loss of appetite, diarrhea, and vomiting. Infants and very young children can get an often-fatal swelling of the brain. Indeterminate stage: During the indeterminate stage, about 8 to 10 weeks after infection, infected persons have no symptoms. Chronic infection: Some people develop serious, irreversible damage to the heart or intestinal tract that appears 10 to 20 years after infection. Heart-related problems include an enlarged heart, altered heart rate or rhythm, heart failure, or cardiac arrest. Enlargement of parts of the digestive tract can result in severe constipation or problems with swallowing. How soon after exposure do symptoms appear? Acute symptoms can occur within a few days to weeks. Most people do not have symptoms until the chronic stage of infection, 10 to 20 years after first being infected. How is Chagas disease diagnosed? Chagas disease is diagnosed by a blood test. Who is at risk for Chagas disease? Chagas disease primarily affects low-income people living in poorly constructed homes in rural areas in South and Central America. People who sleep in houses made from mud, adobe, or thatch are at greatest risk. The acute disease generally occurs in children, whereas chronic symptoms usually appear later in life. Persons with weakened immune systems are at risk of severe infections and complications. Travelers who stay in hotels, resorts, or other well-constructed housing facilities are not at risk for getting Chagas disease. What is the treatment for Chagas disease? Medicine given during the acute stage of infection is usually effective. Once the disease has progressed to the later stages, there is no effective cure.

Question: Advice of Chagas disease? Can you try some cure of any kind or imrove your conditions ? I get it when i was a child Know a have rigth Bundle branch block, can I try some cure of any kind, or improve my condition with vitamines, or loss weigth or exercise every day, or ................................any.............. Help, im worry for my kids. And yes i went to my doctor and he tell te to have a check every year, but I want to try a little hard.............

Answer: Chagas Disease is a parasitic infection caused by the organism Trypanosoma Cruzi and is caused by the bite of an infected sandfly or other vector. It causes cardiomyopathy and intestinal dilatation. 27% of its victim develop a type of cardiomyopathy. It also has a chronic stage that can manifest itself 10-20 years later. so I would be sure that you've been properly treated and not just because you have no signs of infection.

Question: Does anyone know what 'Chagas disease is? What it does? How rare? It's for a project in school.

Answer: Also called American trypanosomiasis (tri-PAN-o-so-MY-a-sis), Chagas disease is an infection caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. It's mainly a South American disease. Worldwide, it is estimated that 16 to 18 million people are infected with Chagas disease; of those infected, 50,000 will die each year.

Question: If bitten by an assassin bug in the United States, can you contract chagas disease, and is it deadly?

Answer: Great question! My thesis topic happens to be on the parasite that causes Chagas disease, so maybe I can help you here. Chagas disease is uncommon in the United States. One reason is that housing in this country is far superior to housing in South and central America where the disease is more common. The houses there are made of mud or mud and sticks (with lots of cracks) and are not sealed off from the outside at all. A bug could fly right in and make itself at home in the cracks in the walls extremely easily. Some species of assasin bug actually seem to prefer to live in people's houses. It is at night when the bugs tend to bite, while people are sleeping in their beds. Fortunately for people in this country, housing conditions are better and don't provide a good place to live for the assasin bug. Also, the species present here prefer to live in a wild environment instead of around people. It is known that the parasite that causes Chagas disease is present in the United States. From what I have heard, infections of pets are not very uncommon. There have been some human cases in the States also, the ones I remember reading about were in coastal Georgia. Currently the biggest risk of contracting Chagas disease in the United States is probably through blood transfusions. Screening the blood supply for Chagas is not required in most areas (unlike for example HIV) and so it is possible that an infected immigrant from South or Central America (or infected American tourist) could unknowingly transmit the disease by donating blood. This is particularly possible because sometimes Chagas disease doesn't cause any symptoms at all, and the deadly symptoms often occur many years after initial infection. To answer your second question, yes, Chagas disease can be deadly. It can cause heart problems and megaesophagous and megacolon (massive enlargement of esophagous and/or colon). Sometimes the first indication a person has that they have the disease is when they suddenly die of heart failure. Like I said before, these problems generally occur years and years after the person was originally infected.

Question: What do you know about chagas disease? Does it happen in the US?

Answer: We've had a few small outbreaks of Chagas Disease in the US among transplant patients, actually. It was all over the CDC and some of it was in the news. I helped work on some of the cases. Chagas (aka American trypanosomiasis) is caused by T. cruzi, a protozoan that's related to the one that causes malaria (same genus). Many people acquire the infection in Latin America where it is endemic (transmitted through the bites of kissing bugs, which are big, ugly and scary). But then these people travel or emigrate to the US, bringing the infection with them. You can't pass it person to person through casual contact, though. But yes, every now and then, one of these people with asymtompatic Chagas dies and donates organs. The infected organs get put into a person who is on a lot of immune suppressants (to avoid organ rejection), and the patient gets very sick with Chagas disease. I think there were two deaths. Because this is seen to be an emerging problem, the Red Cross will now be screening donors for Chagas disease. Anyway, in short, Chagas is present in the US (in states with large Latino propulations), often imported and travel-related. It is curable, and it is very rare.

Question: If you find that you have Chagas Disease. ?? maybe from 25 years ago- what can you do? Now i have Rigth Bundle Branch Block, can exist some treatment or alternative medicine to stop the disease (avoid more damage..............)

Answer: Unfortunately at this point it won't help. Try avoiding anything that may make your heart worse, like coronary artery disease ( high cholesterol or blood pressure). Follow up with your doctor for close management. If you do have arrhytmias or congestive heart failure, some therapy may help for those complications, but they won't cure Chagas per se. Make sure you don't give blood beacuse it can be transmited that way.

Question: why can't penicillin be used to treat chagas disease?

Answer: Chagas disease is caused by a parasitic infection. Penicillin treats bacterial infections caused by gram positive organisms. Penicillin will not treat parasites, only bacteria.

Question: Can disease from humans live on fruits and vegetables after washing them? Such as diseases illegal immigrants might harbor who work in the fields? (TB, Malaria, Chagas disease,Leprosy, Dengue, Polio, Hepatitus, Manburg disease) They have been observed urinating on produce in the fields.

Answer: Yes, diseases can transfer through those mediums. Actually, the virus or bacteria can stay alive and active even if the fruits or vegies are well-rinsed.

Question: How does your body fight off Chagas Disease? How does your body fight off Chagas Disease? Thank you!

Answer: It is a parasite and many people end up dying from this problem. Typically a PCR type blood test should be used to determine if you have this parasite. The best way to approach this is NOT with drugs because most of them have been shown to be ineffective in a lot of cases. There are herbs that can be used and in combination with PCR testing and QRA testing, a person can determine the amount of herbs necessary to get rid of the bugs and also to determine when they have been removed from the body. good luck to you

Question: what is the shape of chagas' disease?

Answer: as in the shape of the parasite? if i remember right, chagas disease is caused by Trypansoma cruzi. It is the "American" form. The "African" form is T. brucei and T. gambiense if memory serves right. They're kinda a C-shape when they're adults with a slightly wavy tail. Look up that species name and you should find some pics.

Question: what are health threats for US tourists in Peru including malaria and Chagas disease and are immunizations rec

Answer: you should just be careful with the food you eat, and the water, don't buy anything to eat from those little carts or from any place that doesn't look right, the food is quite different so that can make you sick, but unless you are going to the amazon there is nothing to worry about.

Question: chagas disease is caused by which pathogen?

Answer: tripanosoma cruzi

Question: One in 3,800 donors in the L.A. area tested positive for Chagas, a deadly disease that is mainly found in ..? Latin America... ...............Michael Savage

Answer: we have to weed them out then.

Question: Which do you think is the most interesting disease from this list that people would know the most about? Amebic dysentery Anthrax Botulism Candidiasis Chagas disease Cholera Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) Dengue fever encephalitis Gonorrhea Hepatitis A Hepatitis C Hepatitis B Leprosy Malaria Measles Polio Plague Puerperal fever (infection after childbirth) Rabies Smallpox Scrapie Syphilis Tetanus Trypanosomiasis Tuberculosis Typhoid fever Typhus yellow fever West Nile Fever Whooping cough

Answer: Smallpox Its the source of the worlds first vaccine and actually kinda fascinating to study. Not to mention the oozing sores make it all the more fun.