Monday, November 10, 2014

Blood-Sucking 'Kissing Bug' Has Infected 300,000 Americans with Deadly Disease

The United States is being infected by Chagas, a deadly disease spread by the feces of a parasite nicknamed the “kissing bug.” It bites sleeping victims, ingests the blood and defecates on them; patients then unknowingly rub the feces into open membranes.

Chagas disease is seen as a “silent killer” by those who study and treat it, as it can often lurk in people’s bloodstreams for up to two decades before causing their organs to fail. The initial stage of the tropical illness ‒ the acute phase ‒ is mostly symptom-free and lasts for the first few weeks or months, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If a patient does exhibit symptoms, they can easily be mistaken for another disease .... http://rt.com