LET ME PREFACE THIS BY SAYING YOU CANNOT GET IT FORM KISSING OR EVEN FROM ANOTHER PERSON--IT'S CALLED THE "KISSING BUG" BECAUSE IT STINGS YOUR LIPS (AND EYES)...
"Where does the disease come from?
Short answer - The reduviid bug,
prevalent in Latin America. Experts say the parasite for Chagas lives in
its digestive system. They say it hides in wall-crevices and thatched
roofs. Then at night, it drops onto people who are sleeping. It likes
to bite on the face... earning it the nickname 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.
Dr. Peter Hoetz with the Baylor College of Medicine is working on the front lines of the disease in Texas. "I like to call Chagas disease arguably the most important infection you've never heard about- and you've never heard about it because it almost exclusively affects people living in extreme poverty."
Hotez says, Chagas has chilling similarities to AIDS. It's already contaminated part of the blood supply in South America.
You can be infected with Chagas for decades before you actually get the severe symptoms of the disease. But then, when you move into the severe stage, you can develop an enlarged heart or intestines, that can burst..."
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