If Maira Gutierrez did not donate blood, he probably would not know had been infected with Chagas, a parasitic disease transmitted from kissing bug that can cause sudden heart failure.
Maira Gutierrez from Los Angeles, USA, felt fine. But in his blood still contains antibodies, a sign that the disease caused by parasitic kiss is still perched on his body.
Chagas caused by Trypanosoma cruzi parasite called (T. cruzi), which remained active in the human body for 30 years until then kills suddenly by heart-stopping or destroying the intestines of sufferers.
The disease is transmitted by tiny animals called vinchuca or kissing bugs for biting people's faces when he sleeps. Deadly parasitic disease caused by a kiss is the silent killer because patients rarely show symptoms or know that he is infected.
If Gutierrez does not donate more than ten years ago, he probably would not know that he had been infected with Chagas disease, which may one day will make her heart stop.
Like many other Chagas patients in the United States, Gutierrez probably contracted the disease while still a child living in rural El Salvador.
Chagas has become the scourge of the developing world for decades, especially in the countries of Latin America. Chagas disease is also a
vinchuca live in poverty because of the mud walls of huts. Humans can spread from mother to child and through blood transfusions and organ donations.
Most people with Chagas do not feel any symptoms. 30 percent among those at risk of heart disease or bowel and lead to death.
Bolivia has the highest rates of Chagas infection in the world. In this country, 20 percent of women at childbearing age have been infected and as many as three thousand children are born infected each year.
Other Latin American countries like Chile and Argentina have made great strides in eradicating this disease because once people move into a house made of cement that is no longer exposed to vinchuca.
"If we can improve housing conditions, we could reduce Chagas infection. It's not a coincidence that Bolivia is one of the poorest countries and has the highest prevalence of Chagas," said Dr Faustino Torrico Chagas who runs a clinic at the Universidad Mayor de San Simon in Cochabamba, Bolivia , as quoted from The Atlantic on Monday (09/05/2011).
Public health experts agree that eradication vinchuca is the first step in stopping Chagas. Vinchuca attacked at night, spreading a potentially deadly parasite.
Maira Gutierrez from Los Angeles, USA, felt fine. But in his blood still contains antibodies, a sign that the disease caused by parasitic kiss is still perched on his body.
Chagas caused by Trypanosoma cruzi parasite called (T. cruzi), which remained active in the human body for 30 years until then kills suddenly by heart-stopping or destroying the intestines of sufferers.
The disease is transmitted by tiny animals called vinchuca or kissing bugs for biting people's faces when he sleeps. Deadly parasitic disease caused by a kiss is the silent killer because patients rarely show symptoms or know that he is infected.
If Gutierrez does not donate more than ten years ago, he probably would not know that he had been infected with Chagas disease, which may one day will make her heart stop.
Like many other Chagas patients in the United States, Gutierrez probably contracted the disease while still a child living in rural El Salvador.
Chagas has become the scourge of the developing world for decades, especially in the countries of Latin America. Chagas disease is also a
vinchuca live in poverty because of the mud walls of huts. Humans can spread from mother to child and through blood transfusions and organ donations.
Most people with Chagas do not feel any symptoms. 30 percent among those at risk of heart disease or bowel and lead to death.
Bolivia has the highest rates of Chagas infection in the world. In this country, 20 percent of women at childbearing age have been infected and as many as three thousand children are born infected each year.
Other Latin American countries like Chile and Argentina have made great strides in eradicating this disease because once people move into a house made of cement that is no longer exposed to vinchuca.
"If we can improve housing conditions, we could reduce Chagas infection. It's not a coincidence that Bolivia is one of the poorest countries and has the highest prevalence of Chagas," said Dr Faustino Torrico Chagas who runs a clinic at the Universidad Mayor de San Simon in Cochabamba, Bolivia , as quoted from The Atlantic on Monday (09/05/2011).
Public health experts agree that eradication vinchuca is the first step in stopping Chagas. Vinchuca attacked at night, spreading a potentially deadly parasite.