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The CDC's recent report on a "kiss virus" identified for the first time in Delaware has raised concern that this potentially deadly virus is heading north from Latin America through the Carolinas and beyond. Insects that kiss each other carry a parasite that causes Chagas disease and can cause serious heart and gastric problems.
Are we in the summer for a summer invasion of these blood-sucking insects that are far from romantic?
Probably not, says Rachel Curtis-Robles, Ph.D., an embracing bugs expert, postdoctoral researcher and epidemiologist at Texas A & M University's College Station. Kissing insects are not new. According to the CDC, eleven different species of bugs, called triatomines, are present. And 28 states have reported them, according to the Texas A & M research team. Insects are typically found in Mexico, Central America, and South America.
It is not the virus itself that causes the disease, but a parasite it can carry.
About 300,000 people with Chagas disease live in the United States, but most have been infected in areas of Latin America where the disease is most prevalent. In the United States, the probability of being infected is low, even if the bug is infected, says the CDC.
Experts agree that news is a good reminder that people need to be aware of the bug, what to do in case of a bite, and how to reduce the risk.
More about Kissing Bugs
The kissing insects do not really kiss each other. Curtis-Robles explains that they received their nickname because they tend to bite people around the mouth or at another place on the face. They are nocturnal and your face is often the only part of the body exposed during sleep.
"They are attracted to the carbon dioxide we are all expiring," says Sarah Gunter, PhD, an badistant professor of pediatrics and a researcher in Chagas disease at the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. And they are looking for blood as a meal.
But it's not the bite itself that transmits the parasite.
Here is the super disgusting part: the bug bites and then defecates. "The parasite is in the faeces," says Gunter. "If the feces of an infected insect enter the wound, it is at that time that we observe an infection."
Transmission usually occurs when a person accidentally rubs excrement into the bite wound or into a mucous membrane such as the eye or mouth, says the CDC.
Identifying the bugs is not simple because there are a lot of look-alikes. In the United States, most species are mostly black or very dark brown, says Curtis-Robles. They have red, orange or yellow "stripes" on their edges, fine antennae, legs and a cone-shaped head.
To complicate the problem, most people do not report feeling a bite, says Curtis-Robles. Kissing insects linger indoors or outdoors, preferring cracks and holes in older homes. Outside, they live under porches, in brush piles or in rodent nests, outside nesting boxes, or henhouses.
Possible symptoms
Everyone has no symptoms. Some people have an allergic reaction to the saliva of the bug, says the CDC. They can have itching, swelling, hives and severe redness.
There may be swelling if the parasite enters the body through the skin or mucous membranes. It could also cause swelling around the eyes.
The infection eventually reaches the blood and can affect the cells of the heart and digestive tract. "About one-third of infected people contract the chronic form of the disease," Gunter said.
Chronic complications of Chagas' disease may include heart rhythm problems that may result in sudden death, an enlarged heart that does not pump well, and an enlarged esophagus or colon that can cause problems with eating or pbading feces. .
"If someone is afraid of being infected, they should talk to their doctor first," Curtis-Robles says. A doctor may request blood tests to check for antibodies to the parasite. In case of infection, a patient may consult an infectious disease specialist or a cardiologist for treatment with anti-parasitic drugs.
Insects can also bite dogs, and they can have the same heart problems as people, but in a shorter time, says Gunter.
Happy ending in Delaware
The insect found in Delaware, which had bitten a child while watching television at night in her room in July 2018, was sent to the CDC, which confirmed that it was a kissing virus. but that it was negative for the parasite. The girl had no ill effects, according to a CDC report released on April 19.
SOURCES:
Sarah Gunter, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Chagas Researcher, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston.
Rachel Curtis-Robles, Ph.D., postdoctoral researcher, epidemiologist and co-founder of the Kissing Bug Citizen Science Program, A & M University of Texas, College Station.
CDC: Weekly report on morbidity and mortalityApril 19, 2019.
CDC: "Parasites – American trypanosomiasis (also known as Chagas disease)."
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