texascavers Digest 6 Dec 2012 22:52:12 -0000 Issue 1676
Topics (messages 21106 through 21109):
Re: Results of testing for Chagas in Kissing bugs in Texas
21106 by: Aimee Beveridge
21107 by: Lyndon Tiu
21108 by: rafal kedzierski
21109 by: Ted Samsel
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
--- Begin Message ---
in your eye!
________________________________
From: Lyndon Tiu <l...@alumni.sfu.ca>
To: Aimee Beveridge <aim...@yahoo.com>
Cc: texas cavers tc <texascavers@texascavers.com>
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 <aim...@yahoo.com> 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 <rafal...@hotmail.com>
>To: gschin...@edwardsaquifer.org; texas cavers tc
><texascavers@texascavers.com>
>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: gschin...@edwardsaquifer.org
>To: texascavers@texascavers.com
>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
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
What did mommy say ... ?
"Don't rub your eyes and wash your face when you wake up in the morning!"
Listen to mommy!
On Thu, Dec 6, 2012 at 4:21 PM, Aimee Beveridge <aim...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> in your eye!
>
> *From:* Lyndon Tiu <l...@alumni.sfu.ca>
> *To:* Aimee Beveridge <aim...@yahoo.com>
> *Cc:* texas cavers tc <texascavers@texascavers.com>
> *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 <aim...@yahoo.com> 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 <rafal...@hotmail.com>
> *To:* gschin...@edwardsaquifer.org; texas cavers tc <
> texascavers@texascavers.com>
> *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: gschin...@edwardsaquifer.org
> To: texascavers@texascavers.com
> 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
>
>
>
--
Lyndon Tiu
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
>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 (占쏙옙370,000 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
List-Post: texascavers@texascavers.com
Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2012 14:21:26 -0800
From: aim...@yahoo.com
To: l...@alumni.sfu.ca
CC: texascavers@texascavers.com
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Results of testing for Chagas in Kissing bugs in
Texas
in your eye!
From: Lyndon Tiu <l...@alumni.sfu.ca>
To: Aimee Beveridge <aim...@yahoo.com>
Cc: texas cavers tc <texascavers@texascavers.com>
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 <aim...@yahoo.com> 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 <rafal...@hotmail.com>
To: gschin...@edwardsaquifer.org; texas cavers tc <texascavers@texascavers.com>
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: gschin...@edwardsaquifer.org
To: texascavers@texascavers.com
List-Post: texascavers@texascavers.com
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占쏙옙m 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
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
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 <rafal...@hotmail.com>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: aim...@yahoo.com
> To: l...@alumni.sfu.ca
> CC: texascavers@texascavers.com
>
> Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Results of testing for Chagas in Kissing bugs
> in Texas
>
> in your eye!
>
> *From:* Lyndon Tiu <l...@alumni.sfu.ca>
> *To:* Aimee Beveridge <aim...@yahoo.com>
> *Cc:* texas cavers tc <texascavers@texascavers.com>
> *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 <aim...@yahoo.com> 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 <rafal...@hotmail.com>
> *To:* gschin...@edwardsaquifer.org; texas cavers tc <
> texascavers@texascavers.com>
> *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: gschin...@edwardsaquifer.org
> To: texascavers@texascavers.com
> 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
>
>
>
--- End Message ---
