Shaycas
JF-Expert Member
- Feb 13, 2009
- 906
- 112
Chagas: Is tropical disease really the new
AIDS?
Chagas, a tropical disease spread by insects, is
causing some fresh concern following an
editorialpublished earlier this week in a
medical journalthat called it "the new AIDS of
the Americas ."
More than 8 million people have been infected
by Chagas, most of them in Latin and Central
America. But more than 300,000 live in the
United States.
The editorial, published by the Public Library of
Science's Neglected Tropical Diseases, said the
spread of the disease is reminiscent of the early
years of HIV.
"There are a number of striking similarities
between people living with Chagas disease and
people living with HIV/AIDS," the authors wrote,
"particularly for those with HIV/AIDS who
contracted the disease in the first two decades
of the HIV/AIDS
Both diseases disproportionately affect people
living in poverty, both are chronic conditions
requiring prolonged, expensive treatment, and
as with patients in the first two decades of the
HIV/AIDS epidemic, "most patients with Chagas
disease do not have access to health care
facilities."
Unlike HIV, Chagas is not a sexually-transmitted
disease: it's " caused by parasites transmitted to
humans by blood-sucking insects
," as the New York Times put it.
"It likes to bite you on face"
"It's called the kissing bug. When it ingests your
blood, it excretes the parasite at the same time.
When you wake up and scratch the itch, the
parasite moves into the wound and you're
infected."
"Gaaah," Cassie Murdoch wrote.
Chagas, also known as American
trypanosomiasis, kills about 20,000 people per
year, the journal said.
And while just 20 percent of those infected with
Chagas develop a life-threatening form of the
disease, Chagas is "hard or impossible to cure,".
The disease can be transmitted from mother to
child or by blood transfusion. About a quarter of
its victims eventually will develop enlarged
hearts or intestines, which can fail or burst,
causing sudden death. Treatment involves harsh
drugs taken for up to three months and works
only if the disease is caught early.
"The problem is once the heart symptoms start,
which is the most dreaded complicationthe
Chagas cardiomyopathythe medicines no
longer work very well," Dr. Peter Hotez, a
researcher at Baylor College of Medicine and
one of the editorial's authors said.
"Problem No. 2: the medicines are extremely
toxic."
And 11 percent of pregnant women in Latin
America are infected with Chagas, the journal
said.
AIDS?
Chagas, a tropical disease spread by insects, is
causing some fresh concern following an
editorialpublished earlier this week in a
medical journalthat called it "the new AIDS of
the Americas ."
More than 8 million people have been infected
by Chagas, most of them in Latin and Central
America. But more than 300,000 live in the
United States.
The editorial, published by the Public Library of
Science's Neglected Tropical Diseases, said the
spread of the disease is reminiscent of the early
years of HIV.
"There are a number of striking similarities
between people living with Chagas disease and
people living with HIV/AIDS," the authors wrote,
"particularly for those with HIV/AIDS who
contracted the disease in the first two decades
of the HIV/AIDS
Both diseases disproportionately affect people
living in poverty, both are chronic conditions
requiring prolonged, expensive treatment, and
as with patients in the first two decades of the
HIV/AIDS epidemic, "most patients with Chagas
disease do not have access to health care
facilities."
Unlike HIV, Chagas is not a sexually-transmitted
disease: it's " caused by parasites transmitted to
humans by blood-sucking insects
," as the New York Times put it.
"It likes to bite you on face"
"It's called the kissing bug. When it ingests your
blood, it excretes the parasite at the same time.
When you wake up and scratch the itch, the
parasite moves into the wound and you're
infected."
"Gaaah," Cassie Murdoch wrote.
Chagas, also known as American
trypanosomiasis, kills about 20,000 people per
year, the journal said.
And while just 20 percent of those infected with
Chagas develop a life-threatening form of the
disease, Chagas is "hard or impossible to cure,".
The disease can be transmitted from mother to
child or by blood transfusion. About a quarter of
its victims eventually will develop enlarged
hearts or intestines, which can fail or burst,
causing sudden death. Treatment involves harsh
drugs taken for up to three months and works
only if the disease is caught early.
"The problem is once the heart symptoms start,
which is the most dreaded complicationthe
Chagas cardiomyopathythe medicines no
longer work very well," Dr. Peter Hotez, a
researcher at Baylor College of Medicine and
one of the editorial's authors said.
"Problem No. 2: the medicines are extremely
toxic."
And 11 percent of pregnant women in Latin
America are infected with Chagas, the journal
said.
