How a Kissing Bug Becomes a Balloon Full of Your Blood | Deep Look

A kissing bug gorges on your blood. Then it poops on you. And that poop might contain the parasite that causes Chagas disease, which can be deadly. Without knowing it, millions of people have gotten the parasite in Latin America, where these insects live in many rural homes. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the saliva of some kissing bugs in the U.S. can give you a dangerous allergic reaction.
SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! www.youtube.co...
WATCH PBS Vitals! / pbsvitals
DEEP LOOK is an ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.
Kissing bugs live in the Americas, where around 130 species feed on humans, wild animals like wood rats, and on dogs, chickens and pigs.
In Latin America, five species of kissing bugs are largely responsible for infecting around 6 million people with the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi that causes Chagas disease. The parasite enters people’s bodies when they rub the poop of an infected kissing bug into the bite wound or their eyes.
Most never get sick, but up to one-third develop heart disease that can kill them. Pregnant women can pass the parasite onto their babies.
--- What are signs you’ve been bitten by a kissing bug?
The bite is painless and frequently invisible, though it might swell up. Kissing bugs often bite near the eyes or mouth, but they’ll dig in anywhere.
If the bite victim rubs infected bug poop into their eye, it might puff up into the sign of Romaña.
Infection might cause fever, headache, cough, or abdominal pain, according to the Pan American Health Organization.
--- What are other names for kissing bugs?
They’re referred to as triatomines and also known as chinche besucona, vinchuca, pito and barbeiro.
--- In what countries do people contract Chagas?
Chagas is regularly transmitted in 21 countries in Latin America.
In the U.S., where kissing bugs very rarely transmit Chagas, researchers estimate that some 350,000 Latin American immigrants contracted the parasite in their home countries, where the bugs live inside houses and in animal coops.
--- What is the treatment for Chagas?
Two medications can kill the parasite.
“The earlier you treat people, and the younger the person is, the better the chance of preventing development of heart disease,” said Dr. Caryn Bern, at the University of California, San Francisco.
--- In what states in the U.S. do kissing bugs live?
Texas, New Mexico and Arizona are the states with the most findings of kissing bugs, according to Texas A&M University.
---+ Find additional resources and a transcript on KQED Science: www.kqed.org/s...
---+ More great Deep Look episodes:
Watch Bed Bugs Get Stopped in Their Tracks
• Watch Bed Bugs Get Sto...
How Ticks Dig in With a Mouth Full of Hooks
• How Ticks Dig In With ...
How Mosquitoes Use Six Needles to Suck Your Blood
• How Mosquitoes Use Six...
---+ Shoutout!
🏆Congratulations🏆 to the following fans on our Deep Look Community Tab for correctly answering our GIF challenge!
bless up thank u
Emmett
Matthew Nardin
Gavin Rushing
Will Smith
---+ Thank you to our Top Patreon Supporters ($10+ per month)!
Shonara Rivas
Jessica
mark tighe
Ed Gandia
Mehdi
Mark Jobes
Delphine Tseng
Nicky O.
Jana Brenning
Anastasia Grinkevic
Allison & Maka Masuda
Nathan Jewsbury
Wild Turkey
Carrie Mukaida
Scott Faunce
Tianxing Wang
Kelly Hong
Misia Clive
Kevin Judge
Cristen Rasmussen
Teresa Lavell
Wade Tregaskis
Josh Kuroda
Burt Humburg
Caitlin McDonough
Blanca Vides
Carlos Carrasco
Noreen Herrington
Kristy Freeman
Mary Truland
Roberta K Wright
Syniurge
Aurora
Silvan
monoirre
Leonhardt Wille
Louis O'Neill
Jellyman
Titania Juang
Rick Wong
Sonia Tanlimco
Cindy McGill
Nicolette Ray
Joshua Murallon Robertson
Adam Kurtz
El Samuels
Laurel Przybylski
Supernovabetty
Companion Cube
Chris B Emrick
KW
chckncurry
Karen Reynolds
TierZoo
SueEllen McCann
David Deshpande
Shelley Pearson Cranshaw
Daisuke Goto
Elizabeth Ann Ditz
Levi Cai
---+ Follow KQED Science and Deep Look:
Instagram: / kqedscience
Twitter: / kqedscience
---+ About KQED
KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate in San Francisco, California, serves Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial TV, radio and web media.
Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, the largest science and environment reporting unit in California. KQED Science is supported by The National Science Foundation, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the Vadasz Family Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Campaign 21 and the members of KQED.
#kissingbugs #Chagas #deeplook