Chagas disease is an infection you can get from a “kissing bug” bite. Chagas disease is very common in tropical regions. Don’t worry–there is treatment for early stages of the disease that can cure it.
Chagas disease happens when a tiny parasite called Trypanosoma cruzi gets into the body. People get Chagas disease when they are bitten by a “kissing bug” AKA reduviid bugs, which is an insect that feeds on blood. Chagas disease is known as a Neglected Tropical Disease (we’ll talk more about that later!). It is most common in Latin America, where around 6 million people are infected.
Chagas disease has been in the news lately because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States just released a report saying that Chagas disease should be classified as “endemic” in the U.S. That means that a disease has a constant presence in a particular area. The CDC emphasized that Chagas disease in the U.S. isn’t just due to travel or immigration. Kissing bug bites can happen in many states. Texas, for example, has seen a rise in bites.
How is Chagas disease spread?
Chagas disease is spread by reduviid bugs. What’s coming next is a little gross: these bugs bite people on their face to drink their blood, and when they feed, they poop. The poop can get in your eyes, nose, or mouth and since the parasites that cause Chagas disease can be found in the bug poop, the parasites get into your body and cause infection. Reduviid bugs tend to live in tropical areas, and they often live in straw and mud.
Chagas disease can also be spread via blood, for example, through transfusions or organ donation, and through eating contaminated food.
Symptoms of Chagas Disease
When someone is first infected with Chagas disease, they might not have any symptoms or might have:
➡️ Flu-like symptoms.
➡️ A swollen eye due to the bug bite (called Romaña’s sign).
➡️ A rash around the bug bite (called chagoma).
If the parasite is not treated, an infected person can move into the chronic phase of infection. Chronic Chagas disease can cause:
➡️ Heart problems called dilated cardiomegaly, which can lead to heart failure and death.
➡️ Gut problems called megacolon, which can cause bowel obstructions.
➡️ Megaesophagus, which can make it really difficult to swallow.
Megacolon and megaesophagus occur because Chagas disease damages the nerves that help you swallow and poop. So with chronic Chagas, you can end up extremely constipated and unable to eat.
Chagas disease can also be transmitted from the pregnant parent to the baby during pregnancy. Babies born with Chagas disease can have lung problems, vision problems, heart problems, and liver issues.
How do you treat Chagas disease?
In the early phase, Chagas disease can be treated with antiparasitic medications, specifically benznidazole or nifurtimox. These two drugs can cure the disease by killing the parasites and stopping the long-term effects of the disease. With later stages of the disease, you can’t cure it. We can only treat the symptoms of the heart and gut problems. Early Chagas disease can be diagnosed by looking for parasites in the blood. Chronic Chagas disease can be diagnosed by looking for antibodies, which is one of the ways your body fights infections. If you were recently bitten by a reduviid bug, speak to your doctor about getting tested.
How do you prevent Chagas disease?
To prevent Chagas disease you can:
✅ Use bed netting
✅ Seal cracks around windows, doors, and roofs
✅ Don’t let leaves, rocks, or sticks pile up near your home
✅ Wear long-sleeved clothing
✅ Use bug spray
⚖️ Health Equity Alert: Why are Neglected Tropical Diseases a big deal?
Neglected Tropical Diseases are a group of illnesses that mostly affect people living in tropical regions of the world. They cause a lot of sickness and death. Examples include sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis, leprosy, worms, Chagas disease, dengue, and chikungunya. These diseases are called “neglected” because they tend to impact the poorest communities. These are places where there isn’t much money for research, and where testing and treatment can be hard to get. These diseases impact over one billion people and cause a lot of deaths. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that these diseases cause a loss of over $33 billion dollars in lost wages and healthcare expenditures. Though many people haven’t heard of them, they impact more than one-sixth of the world’s population.
In the last few years, these diseases have popped up in unusual places. As the planet gets warmer, insects and ticks that spread disease are able to live in more places. For example, warmer temperatures mean more mosquito-borne illnesses, like dengue. Recently, scientists at Texas A&M and the Texas Department of State Health Services have found more cases of Chagas disease that were caught locally, not just by people who traveled abroad. Because of this, the CDC now says Chagas disease is considered endemic in the United States as well.
Bottom line: Chagas disease can cause long-term heart and gut problems if left untreated, and can lead to death. You can protect yourself and your family by making sure the kissing bugs can’t get into your home through cracks, wearing bug spray outside, and making sure the bugs can’t hide in piles of leaves near your home. Organizations that are doing awesome work fighting Neglected Tropical Diseases help protect people all over the world with things like bed netting, building better housing and providing medications to fight early infection.
Donate to help end NTDs: https://endfund.org/
