My old man (an ER MD) was aware of this back in the 1950s in S Texas. Thisn is not new news.
Ted On Thu, Dec 6, 2012 at 4:38 PM, rafal kedzierski <[email protected]>wrote: > From 'An Estimate of the Burden of Chagas Disease in the United States', > Clinicial Infectious Diseases, 2009, Volume 49, Issue 5. > > 'The United States cannot be classified as an area of nonendemicity for > Chagas disease in the same sense as Europe or Asia. The southern states > have enzootic *T. cruzi* transmission that involves at least 11 > triatomine species and hosts such as raccoons, opossums, and domestic dogs. > Nevertheless, the vast majority of *T. cruzi* -infected individuals are > immigrants from areas of endemicity in Latin America. *Only 7 > autochthonous vector-borne cases of infection (4 in Texas and 1 each in > California, Tennessee, and Louisiana) have been reported in the United > States since 1955 (reference from 2007). The rarity of vector-borne > transmission in the United States, compared with Latin America, is thought > to be the result of better housing conditions and lower efficiency of North > American vectors.* > > > Estimation of the number of *T. cruzi* -infected individuals in the > United States is challenging, because the underlying data are sparse. > Previous calculations have relied on a patchwork of *T. cruzi* prevalence > estimates, derived from blood donor screening data and surveys from Latin > America applied to the immigrant population. The highest early estimate > (∼370,000 infected US residents in 1992) used a Latin America-wide > prevalence rather than country-specific estimates and was therefore likely > to be a substantial overestimation. Published US disease burden figures > range from 50,000 to 1 million, but the lowest estimate is now 15 years > old, and the highest estimate was based on an extrapolation of the highest > early estimate thereby compounding the likely overestimation. ' > > I think 7 autochthonous cases in US is probably on the low side, since > clinicians are not looking for Chagas disease. Still, in the realm of > reality, few thousand Texans die on the road driving - buckle up and drive > safely. And cave safely. > > Rafal Kedzierski > DFW Grotto > > ------------------------------ > Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2012 14:21:26 -0800 > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > CC: [email protected] > > Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Results of testing for Chagas in Kissing bugs > in Texas > > in your eye! > > *From:* Lyndon Tiu <[email protected]> > *To:* Aimee Beveridge <[email protected]> > *Cc:* texas cavers tc <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Thursday, December 6, 2012 4:05 PM > *Subject:* Re: [Texascavers] Results of testing for Chagas in Kissing > bugs in Texas > > Shit! > > > On Thu, Dec 6, 2012 at 4:03 PM, Aimee Beveridge <[email protected]> wrote: > > I am sure this was pointed out earlier but being bitten isn't the > problem. Its oral or open wound contact with the infected feces. > > > > *From:* rafal kedzierski <[email protected]> > *To:* [email protected]; texas cavers tc < > [email protected]> > *Sent:* Thursday, December 6, 2012 2:29 PM > *Subject:* RE: [Texascavers] Results of testing for Chagas in Kissing > bugs in Texas > > Just throwing gas on the fire of complexity of life, I just want to > point out that Trypanosoma cruzi or causitive factor in Chagas disease is > not only trypanosome in the environment. Most of them are not directly > harmful to H. sapiens. Therefore, before anyone jumps to any conclusion, > how specific is the PCR used by Baylor College of Medicine for Trypanosoma > cruzi? Where PCR primers used for detection tested against other related > protozoa? Have the primers withstood the test of clinical practice? > > Rafal Kedzierski > DFW caver > > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2012 14:18:40 -0600 > Subject: [Texascavers] Results of testing for Chagas in Kissing bugs in > Texas > > Folks, > > Back in June, I collected four kissing bugs from the Deep and Punkin > preserve in Edwards County, Texas. This was in support of some research > being conducted by the National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College > of Medicine. Two of the bugs were captured in the cabin and two were > captured around the porch areas. Here is the email recently sent to me by > Kristy Orsburn Murray a researcher at Baylor. > > We finally were able to develop and establish the PCR for testing the > insects for Chagas. We ran the PCRs yesterday. I wanted to let you know > that 3 of the 4 kissing bugs were positive, including the blood fed > triatomine. It was still alive when we received it, and it had defecated > in the Ziploc baggie. We took the feces separate from the insect and also > ran PCR, and the feces was positive. This was the insect that said it was > found under a rug in one of the cabins. We are running a blood meal > analysis on it to see if we can identify the source of the blood meal. If > human, do you know who was in that cabin at the time of the collection? > Perhaps we should test those of you who might be exposed to these insects. > With such a high percentage positive, the risk for transmission of Chagas > could be high. > Let me know if you have any questions. We are happy to help. > Best wishes > Kristy > > I suspect that the results from the bugs collected at the Deep Cabin are > not unique to south Texas and that many of these bugs are positive. I have > five additional bugs from Bexar County that will be submitted for testing. > Chagas is not a nice disease and I suspect that a number of cavers who have > camped out in the hill country over the years have been exposed. Below are > some links on Chagas information. > > It is a personal decision on whether you should get tested and where and > how you sleep. I’m sure this will create some lively discussions. > > Geary Schindel > > > > http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Chagas-disease-carrier-may-be-threat-in-Texas-3650719.php(From > San Antonio Express News) > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chagas_disease (From Wikipedia) > > http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/chagas/ (From Centers for Disease > Control) > > http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/chagas-disease/DS00956 (From > Mayo Clinic) > > http://www.who.int/topics/chagas_disease/en/ (From World Health > Organization) > > > > > > > > -- > Lyndon Tiu > > >
