- Hello Jeff -- In the next 10 years, areas of the US
might encounter a public health crisis with regard to Chagas Disease.
I only wonder how many cases of Chagas have NOT been identified? There
may be many heart patients with no risk factors for heart disease who actually
have Chagas. The only way to identify these cases would be to test heart
patients for Chagas disease.
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- One cannot help but wonder if Hurricane Katrina played
a part in Chagas in Louisiana. In the aftermath of the hurricane many
people came from Mexico, Central America and South America to work on clearing
debris from the hurricane stricken state. Did an influx of people from
Chagas infected areas enable the resident kissing bug species to become
infected with Chagas parasite?
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- There have been cases of dogs infected with Chagas in
south Texas. We have 16 of 18 species of triatoma (kissing bugs) in the
US, some as far north as Kentucky. (mid to south US) If people carry
the parasite and these bugs take their blood meal, the vector will become
a ticking time bomb. We could see Chagas cycle begin in the Southern to
Mid US especially in areas of Texas, Louisiana and southern California.
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- How do we deal with Chagas? There is no cure. There
are only a couple of drugs to be given, but given in the first weeks after
the infection. If not caught early in the acute stage, the drugs are of
little use and they are extremely toxic.
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- There is no treatment for chronic stage. One may not
feel the effects of Chagas disease for decades and, by the time it is identified,
it is too late. There would be much organ damage, especially to the heart.
Some people would go blind. At that stage we can only do supportive care
and treat each symptom as it develops.
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- The public health department in these areas of the country
where Chagas could become endemic, would be overwhelmed. The best treatment
for Chagas is to prevent it and not allow it to become endemic in the US.
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- Patricia Doyle
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- First Case Of Insect Transmission Of Chagas Parasite
In Louisiana
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- ScienceDaily.com
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- 3-8-7
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- Loyola biology professor Patricia Dorn, Ph.D., in collaboration
with Dawn Wesson, Ph.D., of Tulane University Health Sciences Center and
Loyola undergraduate student Leon Perniciaro discovered the first human
case of insect-transmitted Chagas parasite in Louisiana and sixth ever
in the United States. The discovery was made in July 2006 in a rural area
of New Orleans.
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- The discovery was made after a resident brought insects
to the attention of a pest control operator who identified them as kissing
bugs. After researching the bug on the Internet, the resident realized
the potential for Chagas transmission. Because Dr. Dorn is known in this
area as the expert on Chagas disease and her ongoing international research
in this field, she was contacted to administer the test for the Chagas
parasite and further investigate this situation. Both residents were tested
at Loyola and the Centers for Disease Control and one resident tested positive
for the exposure to the Chagas parasite. Many insects have been collected
in the house and the nearby building and studies carried out by Dr. Dorn
and her students over the last several months indicate that more than half
of the insects tested carry the Chagas parasite.
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- What does this mean and what are the implications for
the general public?
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- Although we have known for many years that there is an
endemic cycle in wild animals in Louisiana (approximately 30 40 percent
of armadillos and opossums are infected with the Chagas parasite), this
is the first report of infection in a human with the Chagas parasite by
an insect in Louisiana. This is not a widespread public health concern
since the person was living in a rural area in a very open house with numerous
entry points for insects and no air conditioning and most people in Louisiana
live in much less open homes.
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- Dr. Dorn has spent 14 years studying Chagas disease,
mostly in Guatemala. She is continuing her work on the insects that carry
the Chagas parasite in Central America and Mexico and working with researchers
at the LSU Veterinary School on Chagas in dogs in Louisiana.
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- Dr. Dorn's scholarly paper on this significant finding
will soon be published in the journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases which
is published by the Centers for Disease Control. She also presented her
findings at the annual meeting of American Association of Tropical Medicine
and Hygiene in Atlanta in November 2006. For a brief summary of Chagas
disease and its natural transmission in the United States go to the following
link on Dr. Dorn's website: http://chn.loyno.edu/biology/bios/dorn-chagasresearch.html
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- Note: This story has been adapted from a news release
issued by Loyola University New Orleans.
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- http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070116131041.htm
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- Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD
- Bus Admin, Tropical Agricultural Economics
- Univ of West Indies
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- Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message
board at:
- http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php
- Also my new website:
- http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/
- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
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