Tropical disease spills over to Europe Predator bugs transmit the dangerous Chagas disease

Already over 40,000 Infected: Bugs spread dangerous tropical disease in Europe

According to health experts, around 10,000 people worldwide die of Chagas' disease each year. The disease is triggered by parasites that are transmitted by blood-sucking predatory bugs. So far, the tropical disease has occurred mainly in South and Central America. But now more than 40,000 people in Europe are said to have been infected.

Every year around 10,000 deaths

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Chagas' disease is one of the "neglected tropical diseases" that is not being adequately addressed internationally, the CRM Center for Travel Medicine reported in an earlier communication. "Worldwide, six to seven million people are infected with the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, which causes Chagas' disease," write the experts, who point out that about 10,000 people die each year. The dangerous disease is spread by raubbanzen. In Europe, too, the number of infected people is increasing.

The Chagas disease, which is transmitted by raubbanzen, calls around 10,000 human lives every year worldwide. Also in Europe there are more and more infections. (Image: fancyfocus / fotolia.com)

Health systems should be prepared

The American Heart Association (AHA) is now warning against the spread of the dangerous disease. As the experts in the journal "Circulation" write, "Chagas disease is traditionally considered a tropical disease that can be found only in Central America and South America."

However, it also affects at least 300,000 US residents and is increasing in other traditionally non-endemic areas.

Therefore, healthcare providers and healthcare systems outside of Latin America should be equipped to detect, diagnose and treat Chagas disease and prevent further disease transmission.

Infections via blood-sucking robber bugs

The infections take place via the blood-sucking predatory bug Triatoma infestans, in whose feces the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi is. This can get into the skin at a bite of insects.

However, the parasites can also enter the body via the mucous membrane of the eyes and when eating contaminated food via the gastrointestinal tract.

In addition, the disease "can be transmitted from pregnant mothers to their babies and through blood transfusions and organ transplants," the AHA writes in a press release.

Illness is in two phases

According to the CRM, the Chagas disease runs in two phases: "Many sufferers do not notice the first, acute phase immediately after the infection," say the experts.

Some of the infected individuals may experience skin changes, swelling of the eyelids, fever, headache, enlarged lymph nodes, paleness, muscle aches, difficulty breathing, swelling and abdominal and chest pain.

Only one third of those infected develop the disease in the second, the chronic phase, often years or decades after transmission.

According to the CRM, sufferers either suffer from chronic heart disease that leads to cardiac arrhythmia and chronic heart failure.

Or they may suffer from chronic indigestion, as the parasite attacks the nervous system of the intestine and can thereby expand the intestine and esophagus.

According to the message from the CRM, the disease can only be treated with medication in the acute phase with a view to healing. Later, the treatment of the complications of the disease would be in focus.

Low risk of infection

According to the AHA, the majority of Chagas patients still live in South and Central America. But in the US, there are about 300,000 sufferers.

The second highest number of infections outside of the Endemieregionen is to give it with 42,000 cases in Spain. In Italy, France, Switzerland, Great Britain, Australia and Japan infections are also accepted.

However, the danger of getting infected, even for Latin America travelers not particularly large.

"The risk of infection is extremely low for most travelers and residents of endemic countries," writes the AHA.

"To minimize the risk, people should avoid sleeping in houses with exposed mud walls and / or thatched roofs, and avoid unpasteurized cane juice, acai fruit juice, and other juices when visiting affected countries." (Ad)