United States: Many people don’t know about the infection while it is in its silent stage until the complications end their lives.
Those working at the University of Cincinnati want to stop the lifecycle of the parasite, which could lead to a cure for the illness.
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Kissing bugs pass the disease when their parasites enter the body by biting people as they sleep.
As almost all the bites happen on the faces, the sweet-sounding names come from this area and not the nature of the food the insects like.
Bugs pass internal parasites in their droppings, and these get into the bloodstream of humans after being bitten.
There are cases of Chagas disease in both North and South America. Doctors believe that the disease may have infected around 6 to 8 million people throughout the world and about 300,000 Americans.
A lot of people do not understand they are infected until decades afterward when they develop symptoms.
According to UC Assistant Professor Noelia Lander, “The main issue with Chagas disease as a public health problem is that most people don’t know they’re infected until symptoms appear and it’s too late to treat them,” phys.org reported.
Together with her students, Lander is studying the whole course of the parasite’s life in order to spot areas where they might make mistakes.
From being in the digestive system of a bug to journeying to a human being’s blood, the parasite follows four changes to live and reproduce.
All along, it must handle large variations in rates of acidity, temperature, and the amount of nutrients it gets.
“I know the parasite is the enemy. But I’m impressed by the mechanisms the parasite has to survive during its lifecycle,” as Lander stated.
“The goal is to find its weaknesses to fight the disease,” the expert added.
The parasite began its existence on Earth before human beings did. The paper was mainly written by Joshua Carlson, a graduate of UC.
Ahmed said that a special ability of the parasite is to inhabit human tissue cells, helping it avoid both the immune system and proper medications. Dr. Morrone said that when the disease becomes chronic, treatments usually have less effect.