Deadly Insects Attack Victims At Night, Killing Them Quietly And Needs To Be taken Seriously Now

Kissing bugs mostly live in the walls of low-income housing in rural or suburban areas and are most active at nighttime when people are sleeping. The bug passes the T. cruzi infection by biting an animal or human, then defecating on the skin of its victim, who may accidentally scratch the spot and break the skin, or spread the feces into the eyes or mouth. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in Mexico, Central America, and South America, approximately 8 million people–6 to 7 million worldwide as reported by the World Health Organization (WHO)– have Chagas disease, the majority unaware of their infection. When left untreated, the lifelong infection can be a killer. About 12,000 people die of Chagas each year, killing more people in Latin America than any other parasite disease, including malaria, writes the Guardian. Though these bugs have been identified in the U.S.–close to 300,000 people are infected–it is not considered an endemic. Some people never develop symptoms but CDC reports that decades later, 20 to 30% have cardiac complications that can lead to death, or gastrointestinal complications, which can cause severe discomfort. And the global case detection rate is only 10%, which makes treatment and prevention very difficult.