Chagas-1 KHN calo
Rick Tarleton (right), who leads a team of researchers at the University of Georgia that has developed a promising new drug for the treatment of Chagas disease, with researcher Angel Padilla. Credit: Paula Andalo/KFF Health News
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When Maira Gutiérrez was diagnosed with Chagas disease in 1997, neither she nor her primary care physician had even heard of the malady. She discovered her illness only by chance, after participating in a Red Cross blood drive organized by her employer, Universal Studios. Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas, is transmitted through an insect called the triatomine bug, known as the kissing bug, because it usually bites close to the lips. Chagas disease affects people primarily in rural Latin America, where the insect thrives in thatched roofs and mud walls.
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