As if ticks, mosquitoes, bed bugs and lice weren’t enough pests for Americans to be concerned about, there is a new and different bug on the scene. It’s called the kissing bug, but no one should think the endearing name means they are affectionate or appealing. In fact, just the opposite is true.
The blood-sucking bugs, also called triatomines, can cause a parasitic disease. The horrible kissing bug can cause Chagas disease in human and canine victims. It is typical for the insects to bite victims when they are unable to ward them off, while they are sleeping.
The kissing bug is relatively new to the United States, and before that it was found south of the border in areas like Mexico, Central America and South America, where millions of people have been infected by kissing bugs.
Why and how the insects made their way into the U.S. is still unclear. But they are already managing to wreak some serious havoc, given that about 300,000 people in the country have been infected.
Many of the kissing bugs in the U.S. are near the border with Mexico, but unfortunately the insects have been found in more than half of states throughout the U.S.
It is alarming that about half of kissing bugs are infected with the Chagas parasite. So the insects and the problems they cause are definitely to be taken seriously.
How Infection Happens
The process of being infected by a kissing bug gives a clue as to how the bugs got their name. The insect bites a person’s skin, oftentimes on their face, and then defecates in that area. Parasites in the feces are then able to enter the open wound caused by the insect bite, or enter the body if the person unknowingly touches their eyes or mouth after touching the wound caused by the insect bite.
Symptoms of Illness Caused by Kissing Bugs
The scary thing is that many people who are bitten and infected by kissing bugs show absolutely no symptoms, so they do not even realize they have been infected. But some people do have symptoms, and those can include lethargy, aches, fever, swollen glands, rash, or a bump around the area where the insect bit the skin.
Some people who are bitten and infected realize they have a problem down the road, when they eventually develop cardiac problems, such as cardiac arrest, irregular heartbeat, stroke or heart disease. Approximately a third of the people infected with Chagas disease develop chronic heart disease. Gastrointestinal (GI) problems are additional problems caused by the insect bites.
In the most serious instances, infections caused by kissing bug infections can be fatal. And infections caused by kissing bugs are lifelong. So the insects are no small issue and are not just annoying.
Chagas disease is typically diagnosed through laboratory testing in the form of blood tests. There are medications that can treat the illness, if the illness is identified soon enough after the person is infected.
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