'KISSING BUG' LEAVES NOT SO SWEET EFFECTS.

Byline: Susan Abram

Staff Writer

SYLMAR -- They call it the kiss of death.

For millions of people who live or have resided in rural areas in Mexico or Latin America, an inch-long insect known as "la chinche besucona" or "the kissing bug" brings on anything but love. It causes heart disease, then possibly death.

But cardiologists from a San Fernando Valley hospital hope more local residents, specifically those who have emigrated from South America, will come forward to seek potentially life-saving treatment.

Opened just a few months ago, a clinic inside Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar is the first in the nation specifically devoted to the study and treatment of Chagas disease, a parasitic illness discovered in Latin America in 1909.

"We have a huge Latin American community here in Los Angeles who are potentially at risk -- people who may not know they have it," said Dr. Sheba Meymandi, director for cardiovascular research and invasive cardiology at the hospital.

Nine local residents already are seeking treatment for Chagas. They were identified among 115 blood donors by the American Red Cross, which began screening for Chagas nearly 10 years ago.

But Meymandi believes there are more who don't know they have been infected because the disease can lay dormant for years, even decades.

"The burden of this disease is substantial," said Dr. Mahmoud Traina, who works alongside Meymandi in the clinic. In 20 to 30 percent of the cases, heart failure develops, he said. "It's something that has been underexamined."

For that reason, Meymandi is encouraging residents to have their blood tested, or urging them to contact her if they believe a friend or a loved one may be infected.

Chagas disease is not contagious, but it can be passed on through pregnancy, organ transplants or blood transfusions.

The disease is transmitted by an infected insect, often found in rural areas where people live in dwellings made from mud, adobe, straw, or palm thatch, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The insect hides within nooks and cracks in the walls and roofs in the daytime.

But at night, it crawls out to feed on blood. It is called the kissing bug because it feeds on a sleeper's face. After it bites, the insect defecates on the open wound. The infection begins when parasites from the bug enter the body through mucous membranes or broken skin, caused when the sleeper scratches the wound, eyes or mouth, according to the CDC.

Symptoms can include fever, fatigue, body aches, headaches, rash, loss of appetite, diarrhea, and vomiting.

The CDC estimates that as many as 8 to 11 million people in Mexico, Central America, and South America have Chagas disease.

And an estimated 1 out of 7,500 people in the United States may be infected, Meymandi said. Seven cases, however, had nothing to do with people from Mexico or Latin America, Meymandi said.

So far, only two medications made in Latin America are used as treatment. Nothing else has been invented since the 1960s, Meymandi said.

susan.abram(at)dailynews.com

818-713-3664

FIND OUT MORE

To speak with a health expert about Chagas disease, call Olive View-UCLA Medical Center at 818-364-4287.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

Dr. Sheba Meymandi at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar speaks about the nation's first Chagas disease clinic.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

Box:

FIND OUT MORE (see text)