What happens if your bit by a kissing bug?

The skin near the bite might become red, swollen, and itchy. The most serious risk is anaphylactic shock. That's when your blood pressure drops and you have trouble breathing. It can be deadly if you don't get emergency treatment.

What to do if a kissing bug bites you?

How do you know if you have been bitten by a kissing bug?

Most people have no symptoms or only very mild flu-like symptoms. These can include fever, body aches, a rash, and swollen glands. The symptoms are a reaction to the high number of parasites circulating in the blood.

Do kissing bugs give you a disease?

The cause of Chagas disease is the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, which is spread from an insect known as the triatomine bug, or "kissing bug." These insects can become infected by this parasite when they swallow blood from an animal that is infected with the parasite.

Can you be cured of Chagas disease?

To kill the parasite, Chagas disease can be treated with benznidazole or nifurtimox. Both medicines are nearly 100% effective in curing the disease if given soon after infection at the onset of the acute phase, including the cases of congenital transmission.

Expert Insights: What to know about a kissing bug bite

Should I be worried about Chagas disease?

Decades after being infected, about 30 percent of those who have Chagas develop serious health effects, including cardiomyopathy (disease of the heart muscle), heart failure, heart rhythm problems, and strokes. Less common are disorders that affect the digestive system.

Should I get tested for Chagas?

A specific test is necessary for the diagnosis of Chagas disease. The test detects the presence of the infection through analysis of a blood sample. Anyone who suspects that they may have Chagas disease should ask their doctor to order this test.

Is Chagas disease fatal?

It is estimated that as many as 8 million people in Mexico, Central America, and South America have Chagas disease, most of whom do not know they are infected. If untreated, infection is lifelong and can be life threatening.

How do you test for Chagas?

The diagnosis of Chagas disease can be made by observation of the parasite in a blood smear by microscopic examination. A thick and thin blood smear are made and stained for visualization of parasites.

What percentage of kissing bugs carry Chagas?

Researchers subsequently discovered that 60 to 70 percent of the triatomine bugs collected in Texas were infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas disease.

How long do Chagas disease symptoms last?

Chagas disease has an acute and a chronic phase. If untreated, infection is lifelong. Acute Chagas disease occurs immediately after infection, and can last up to a few weeks or months. During the acute phase, parasites may be found in the circulating blood.

What does a Chagas bug look like?

They have a 'cone-shaped' head, thin antennae, and thin legs. All of the kinds of kissing bugs found in the United States are mainly black or very dark brown, with red, orange or yellow 'stripes' around the edge of their bodies.

How common is Chagas disease in USA?

Countries where Chagas disease is common have also started screening donated blood for this disease. However, new cases of Chagas disease transmitted from mother-to-child (congenital) can still occur. CDC estimates that more than 300,000 persons with Trypanosoma cruzi infection live in the United States.

What is this bite mark?

A bite mark is known as the registration of the cutting edges of teeth on a substance caused by a jaw closing. The scientific premise regarding bite mark analysis is stemmed from the fact that the human dentition is not identical from person to person.

What attracts the kissing bug?

Adults fly well and are attracted to lights after dark. In suburban and rural Arizona, kissing bugs are often attracted to porch lights. At dawn, they may seek a way to avoid sunlight and heat, and may enter a residence through a doorway gap, or cracks around window screens.

Are assassin bugs and kissing bugs the same?

The kissing bug belongs to the Reduviidae family of insects. This family is also referred to as assassin bugs. But this family of bugs doesn't get the name “assassin” because it transmits Chagas disease (also known as kissing bug disease).

Who should be screened for Chagas?

Women of childbearing age with risk factors and infants born to seropositive mothers deserve special consideration due to the risk of vertical transmission. Diagnostic testing for chronic T. cruzi infection should be conducted using 2 distinct assays.

What is the most common treatment for Chagas disease?

The two drugs used to treat infection with T. cruzi are nifurtimox and benznidazole. Benznidazole is approved by FDA for use in children 2–12 years of age and is available from www.benznidazoletablets.com .

Is Chagas easily diagnosed?

Acute infections can be diagnosed by parasitologic methods, including identification of trypomastigotes in blood by microscopy. Circulating parasite levels decrease rapidly within a few months and are undetectable by most methods during the chronic phase.

How can you protect yourself from Chagas disease?

As there is no vaccine against Chagas disease, the best way to avoid getting the disease is to be informed and take all the measures that do exist.

What is the mortality rate of Chagas disease?

Chagas disease was identified in 122,291 deaths (0.54%), 94.788 (77.5%) as an underlying cause and 27,503 (22.5%) as an associated cause. Average annual age-adjusted mortality rate was 3.22 deaths/100,000 inhabitants (95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.14-3.30).

What states do kissing bugs live in?

Kissing bugs are commonly found in South and Central America, and Mexico, but doctors are starting to count cases in states like Texas, Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Utah and California, according to a Texas A&M University program studying Chagas disease.

How big is the kissing bug?

Adult kissing bugs are about 1/2 to 1 inch long. Kissing bugs hatch from small eggs and go through five juvenile (nymphal) stages before they become adults. Some kinds of kissing bugs can live up to two years.