Definitely worse than Zika, this disease is not receiving much attention, because in the USA it is mostly immigrants that have it, and there are no visible signs that you are infected.
Chagas kills 10,000 people evert year, and 100,00 Americans are infected. Yep, and you haven’t heard of it?
- Chagas is not typically transmitted from person to person. The insect that spreads it is called the kissing bug, because it tends to bite people on the face, near the lips or eyes, while they sleep.
- Thirty percent of those infected develop life-threatening complications years later ― for some it’s an enlarged heart or heart failure, for others it’s an enlarged esophagus or colon. For many, though, Chagas is asymptomatic. A massive heart attack might be the first clue the parasite is there at all.
- Chagas is treatable, but not if the case is too advanced.
- The only available medications are hard to obtain, come with terrible side effects and don’t guarantee a cure.
- Only 1 percent of people with Chagas ever get treated for it.
Clearly this disease needs to be better known, and cures sought. But as long as the suffers are poor immigrants, there’s little chance of that happening…
Source: HuffPost