cHeroKee
06-01-2012, 08:39 AM
Chagas: Is tropical disease really the new AIDS? (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/chagas-tropical-disease-really-aids-145745645.html;_ylc=X3oDMTNuYXZocWNyBF9TAzIxNDU4OT IzMDEEYWN0A21haWxfY2IEY3QDYQRpbnRsA3VzBGxhbmcDZW4t VVMEcGtnA2QyYTllNDQwLTg1MjEtMzFhOS1hYTViLWMwODQ2Mz k5NTBiZgRzZWMDbWl0X3NoYXJlBHNsawNtYWlsBHRlc3QD;_yl v=3)
<cite class="byline vcard">
By Dylan Stableford (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/author/dylan-stableford/;_ylt=AmIo3CvjBvd6WLHPEbgNql3Nt.d_;_ylu=X3oDMTE1ZW Z0ZzA1BG1pdANCbG9nIEhlYWQEcG9zAzUEc2VjA01lZGlhQmxv Z0hlYWQ-;_ylg=X3oDMTNyczNxZTUyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRw c3RhaWQDZDJhOWU0NDAtODUyMS0zMWE5LWFhNWItYzA4NDYzOT k1MGJmBHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljc3xwb2xpdGljcyUyRkRlc3Rp bmF0aW9uJTI1MjAyMDEyBHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQ--;_ylv=3) | The Lookout (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/;_ylt=AuHUd2KVICXsuyaj9lnoLUnNt.d_;_ylu=X3oDMTE1OH VnOTI3BG1pdANCbG9nIEhlYWQEcG9zAzYEc2VjA01lZGlhQmxv Z0hlYWQ-;_ylg=X3oDMTNyczNxZTUyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRw c3RhaWQDZDJhOWU0NDAtODUyMS0zMWE5LWFhNWItYzA4NDYzOT k1MGJmBHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljc3xwb2xpdGljcyUyRkRlc3Rp bmF0aW9uJTI1MjAyMDEyBHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQ--;_ylv=3) – <abbr title="2012-05-31T14:57:45Z">23 hrs ago
http://news.yahoo.com/video#video=29508674
</abbr></cite>
Chagas, a tropical disease spread by insects, is causing some fresh concern following an editorial—published earlier this week in a medical journal—that called it "the new AIDS of the Americas (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=Ap7xQU0LtYCTKXODsp2MUonNt.d_;_ylu=X3oDMTFka3B kYnE0BG1pdANCbG9nIEJvZHkEcG9zAzEEc2VjA01lZGlhQmxvZ 0JvZHlBc3NlbWJseQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTNyczNxZTUyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRw c3RhaWQDZDJhOWU0NDAtODUyMS0zMWE5LWFhNWItYzA4NDYzOT k1MGJmBHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljc3xwb2xpdGljcyUyRkRlc3Rp bmF0aW9uJTI1MjAyMDEyBHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQ--;_ylv=0/SIG=1354eibo7/EXP=1339771026/**http%3A//www.plosntds.org/article/info%253Adoi%252F10.1371%252Fjournal.pntd.0001498) ."
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 epidemic."
[Related: U.S. relief program prevented 741,000 HIV/AIDS deaths in Africa (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=AovR3tnbJLqOzb0xKnzwubfNt.d_;_ylu=X3oDMTFkZWg zYnZwBG1pdANCbG9nIEJvZHkEcG9zAzIEc2VjA01lZGlhQmxvZ 0JvZHlBc3NlbWJseQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTNyczNxZTUyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRw c3RhaWQDZDJhOWU0NDAtODUyMS0zMWE5LWFhNWItYzA4NDYzOT k1MGJmBHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljc3xwb2xpdGljcyUyRkRlc3Rp bmF0aW9uJTI1MjAyMDEyBHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQ--;_ylv=0/SIG=119j8e5tn/EXP=1339771026/**http%3A//yhoo.it/M0seDK)]
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 (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=AqijzKZDFZ0IJqH4N1WLmAPNt.d_;_ylu=X3oDMTFkNWJ 1MDBuBG1pdANCbG9nIEJvZHkEcG9zAzMEc2VjA01lZGlhQmxvZ 0JvZHlBc3NlbWJseQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTNyczNxZTUyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRw c3RhaWQDZDJhOWU0NDAtODUyMS0zMWE5LWFhNWItYzA4NDYzOT k1MGJmBHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljc3xwb2xpdGljcyUyRkRlc3Rp bmF0aW9uJTI1MjAyMDEyBHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQ--;_ylv=0/SIG=141k3n0g0/EXP=1339771026/**http%3A//www.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/science/spread-of-chagas-is-called-the-new-aids-of-the-americas.html%3F_r=2)," as the New York Times put it.
"It likes to bite you on the face," CNN reported. "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 on Jezebel.com (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=AkPRogChrLOtcHUN63z2X4nNt.d_;_ylu=X3oDMTFkMmF zbGIwBG1pdANCbG9nIEJvZHkEcG9zAzQEc2VjA01lZGlhQmxvZ 0JvZHlBc3NlbWJseQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTNyczNxZTUyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRw c3RhaWQDZDJhOWU0NDAtODUyMS0zMWE5LWFhNWItYzA4NDYzOT k1MGJmBHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljc3xwb2xpdGljcyUyRkRlc3Rp bmF0aW9uJTI1MjAyMDEyBHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQ--;_ylv=0/SIG=13aqhc445/EXP=1339771026/**http%3A//jezebel.com/5914130/chagas-the-terrifying-disease-some-are-calling-the-new-aids), summing up the sentiment of everyone who read the journal's report.
[Related: Coming soon--an over-the-counter HIV test (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=Aktdw62rqQEBBsp3yeiklmHNt.d_;_ylu=X3oDMTFkcWh pdTZuBG1pdANCbG9nIEJvZHkEcG9zAzUEc2VjA01lZGlhQmxvZ 0JvZHlBc3NlbWJseQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTNyczNxZTUyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRw c3RhaWQDZDJhOWU0NDAtODUyMS0zMWE5LWFhNWItYzA4NDYzOT k1MGJmBHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljc3xwb2xpdGljcyUyRkRlc3Rp bmF0aW9uJTI1MjAyMDEyBHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQ--;_ylv=0/SIG=119hlu5ot/EXP=1339771026/**http%3A//yhoo.it/L5THp0)]
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 Times reports (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=Ap7h4_fLSikrr0XYN_5iCpvNt.d_;_ylu=X3oDMTFkbml nNzJjBG1pdANCbG9nIEJvZHkEcG9zAzYEc2VjA01lZGlhQmxvZ 0JvZHlBc3NlbWJseQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTNyczNxZTUyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRw c3RhaWQDZDJhOWU0NDAtODUyMS0zMWE5LWFhNWItYzA4NDYzOT k1MGJmBHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljc3xwb2xpdGljcyUyRkRlc3Rp bmF0aW9uJTI1MjAyMDEyBHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQ--;_ylv=0/SIG=141k3n0g0/EXP=1339771026/**http%3A//www.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/science/spread-of-chagas-is-called-the-new-aids-of-the-americas.html%3F_r=2):
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 complication—the Chagas cardiomyopathy—the medicines no longer work very well," Dr. Peter Hotez, a researcher at Baylor College of Medicine and one of the editorial's authors, told CNN (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=AmmC20BLYhu7vwU6LnDjkpPNt.d_;_ylu=X3oDMTFkYTl rYnI4BG1pdANCbG9nIEJvZHkEcG9zAzcEc2VjA01lZGlhQmxvZ 0JvZHlBc3NlbWJseQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTNyczNxZTUyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRw c3RhaWQDZDJhOWU0NDAtODUyMS0zMWE5LWFhNWItYzA4NDYzOT k1MGJmBHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljc3xwb2xpdGljcyUyRkRlc3Rp bmF0aW9uJTI1MjAyMDEyBHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQ--;_ylv=0/SIG=12ilr4o4m/EXP=1339771026/**http%3A//transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1205/30/sitroom.01.html). "Problem No. 2: the medicines are extremely toxic."
And 11 percent of pregnant women in Latin America are infected with Chagas, the journal said
<cite class="byline vcard">
By Dylan Stableford (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/author/dylan-stableford/;_ylt=AmIo3CvjBvd6WLHPEbgNql3Nt.d_;_ylu=X3oDMTE1ZW Z0ZzA1BG1pdANCbG9nIEhlYWQEcG9zAzUEc2VjA01lZGlhQmxv Z0hlYWQ-;_ylg=X3oDMTNyczNxZTUyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRw c3RhaWQDZDJhOWU0NDAtODUyMS0zMWE5LWFhNWItYzA4NDYzOT k1MGJmBHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljc3xwb2xpdGljcyUyRkRlc3Rp bmF0aW9uJTI1MjAyMDEyBHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQ--;_ylv=3) | The Lookout (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/;_ylt=AuHUd2KVICXsuyaj9lnoLUnNt.d_;_ylu=X3oDMTE1OH VnOTI3BG1pdANCbG9nIEhlYWQEcG9zAzYEc2VjA01lZGlhQmxv Z0hlYWQ-;_ylg=X3oDMTNyczNxZTUyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRw c3RhaWQDZDJhOWU0NDAtODUyMS0zMWE5LWFhNWItYzA4NDYzOT k1MGJmBHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljc3xwb2xpdGljcyUyRkRlc3Rp bmF0aW9uJTI1MjAyMDEyBHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQ--;_ylv=3) – <abbr title="2012-05-31T14:57:45Z">23 hrs ago
http://news.yahoo.com/video#video=29508674
</abbr></cite>
Chagas, a tropical disease spread by insects, is causing some fresh concern following an editorial—published earlier this week in a medical journal—that called it "the new AIDS of the Americas (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=Ap7xQU0LtYCTKXODsp2MUonNt.d_;_ylu=X3oDMTFka3B kYnE0BG1pdANCbG9nIEJvZHkEcG9zAzEEc2VjA01lZGlhQmxvZ 0JvZHlBc3NlbWJseQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTNyczNxZTUyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRw c3RhaWQDZDJhOWU0NDAtODUyMS0zMWE5LWFhNWItYzA4NDYzOT k1MGJmBHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljc3xwb2xpdGljcyUyRkRlc3Rp bmF0aW9uJTI1MjAyMDEyBHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQ--;_ylv=0/SIG=1354eibo7/EXP=1339771026/**http%3A//www.plosntds.org/article/info%253Adoi%252F10.1371%252Fjournal.pntd.0001498) ."
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 epidemic."
[Related: U.S. relief program prevented 741,000 HIV/AIDS deaths in Africa (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=AovR3tnbJLqOzb0xKnzwubfNt.d_;_ylu=X3oDMTFkZWg zYnZwBG1pdANCbG9nIEJvZHkEcG9zAzIEc2VjA01lZGlhQmxvZ 0JvZHlBc3NlbWJseQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTNyczNxZTUyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRw c3RhaWQDZDJhOWU0NDAtODUyMS0zMWE5LWFhNWItYzA4NDYzOT k1MGJmBHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljc3xwb2xpdGljcyUyRkRlc3Rp bmF0aW9uJTI1MjAyMDEyBHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQ--;_ylv=0/SIG=119j8e5tn/EXP=1339771026/**http%3A//yhoo.it/M0seDK)]
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 (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=AqijzKZDFZ0IJqH4N1WLmAPNt.d_;_ylu=X3oDMTFkNWJ 1MDBuBG1pdANCbG9nIEJvZHkEcG9zAzMEc2VjA01lZGlhQmxvZ 0JvZHlBc3NlbWJseQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTNyczNxZTUyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRw c3RhaWQDZDJhOWU0NDAtODUyMS0zMWE5LWFhNWItYzA4NDYzOT k1MGJmBHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljc3xwb2xpdGljcyUyRkRlc3Rp bmF0aW9uJTI1MjAyMDEyBHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQ--;_ylv=0/SIG=141k3n0g0/EXP=1339771026/**http%3A//www.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/science/spread-of-chagas-is-called-the-new-aids-of-the-americas.html%3F_r=2)," as the New York Times put it.
"It likes to bite you on the face," CNN reported. "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 on Jezebel.com (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=AkPRogChrLOtcHUN63z2X4nNt.d_;_ylu=X3oDMTFkMmF zbGIwBG1pdANCbG9nIEJvZHkEcG9zAzQEc2VjA01lZGlhQmxvZ 0JvZHlBc3NlbWJseQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTNyczNxZTUyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRw c3RhaWQDZDJhOWU0NDAtODUyMS0zMWE5LWFhNWItYzA4NDYzOT k1MGJmBHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljc3xwb2xpdGljcyUyRkRlc3Rp bmF0aW9uJTI1MjAyMDEyBHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQ--;_ylv=0/SIG=13aqhc445/EXP=1339771026/**http%3A//jezebel.com/5914130/chagas-the-terrifying-disease-some-are-calling-the-new-aids), summing up the sentiment of everyone who read the journal's report.
[Related: Coming soon--an over-the-counter HIV test (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=Aktdw62rqQEBBsp3yeiklmHNt.d_;_ylu=X3oDMTFkcWh pdTZuBG1pdANCbG9nIEJvZHkEcG9zAzUEc2VjA01lZGlhQmxvZ 0JvZHlBc3NlbWJseQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTNyczNxZTUyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRw c3RhaWQDZDJhOWU0NDAtODUyMS0zMWE5LWFhNWItYzA4NDYzOT k1MGJmBHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljc3xwb2xpdGljcyUyRkRlc3Rp bmF0aW9uJTI1MjAyMDEyBHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQ--;_ylv=0/SIG=119hlu5ot/EXP=1339771026/**http%3A//yhoo.it/L5THp0)]
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 Times reports (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=Ap7h4_fLSikrr0XYN_5iCpvNt.d_;_ylu=X3oDMTFkbml nNzJjBG1pdANCbG9nIEJvZHkEcG9zAzYEc2VjA01lZGlhQmxvZ 0JvZHlBc3NlbWJseQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTNyczNxZTUyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRw c3RhaWQDZDJhOWU0NDAtODUyMS0zMWE5LWFhNWItYzA4NDYzOT k1MGJmBHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljc3xwb2xpdGljcyUyRkRlc3Rp bmF0aW9uJTI1MjAyMDEyBHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQ--;_ylv=0/SIG=141k3n0g0/EXP=1339771026/**http%3A//www.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/science/spread-of-chagas-is-called-the-new-aids-of-the-americas.html%3F_r=2):
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 complication—the Chagas cardiomyopathy—the medicines no longer work very well," Dr. Peter Hotez, a researcher at Baylor College of Medicine and one of the editorial's authors, told CNN (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=AmmC20BLYhu7vwU6LnDjkpPNt.d_;_ylu=X3oDMTFkYTl rYnI4BG1pdANCbG9nIEJvZHkEcG9zAzcEc2VjA01lZGlhQmxvZ 0JvZHlBc3NlbWJseQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTNyczNxZTUyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRw c3RhaWQDZDJhOWU0NDAtODUyMS0zMWE5LWFhNWItYzA4NDYzOT k1MGJmBHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljc3xwb2xpdGljcyUyRkRlc3Rp bmF0aW9uJTI1MjAyMDEyBHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQ--;_ylv=0/SIG=12ilr4o4m/EXP=1339771026/**http%3A//transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1205/30/sitroom.01.html). "Problem No. 2: the medicines are extremely toxic."
And 11 percent of pregnant women in Latin America are infected with Chagas, the journal said