Rare Infection Threatens to Spread in Blood Supply

NY Times ^ | 11/18/03 | Donald G. McNeil Jr

[neverdem]

Another reason to control immigration.

[Darnright]

This might interest you.

[Ribeye]

Amen.

My wife and I have been worried about disease coming across the borders unchecked for years.

There are kids in Orange County, CA that have contracted TB from Souteast Asian immigrant's kids.

Just lovely.

[Eowyn-of-Rohan]

Yes, yet another reason to tighten immigration. How long will they wait? They used to inspect immigrants for disease before allowing them into the country (crude inspection methods to be sure, but at least they tried). Are they doing that now?

[Blood of Tyrants]

"Chagas is still little known in the United States, but in Mexico, Central America and South America, 18 million people are infected, and 50,000 a year die of it."

"But in 1998 in Miami it was found to be 1 in 9,000, he said, and in Los Angeles the same year, he measured it at 1 in 5,400"

It must be shear coincidence that both of these cities have a LARGE illegal alien population and high infection rate because illegal immigration is GOOD for us. Right?

[neverdem]

"There are kids in Orange County, CA that have contracted TB from Souteast Asian immigrant's kids."

At least there is a reasonably effective screening program for TB that can be given to folks from SE Asia, who are mostly legal immigrants.

The medical literature is rife with articles about multi-drug resistant TB from south of the border.

[neverdem]

IIRC, legal immigrants are tested for HIV/AIDS and TB, the latter being a "PPD" skin test that shows an obvious reaction if positive in 48 - 72 hours. If that happens, then the person must obtain a chest X-ray.

[Bikers4Bush]

Nice, now we're getting diseases passed to us from Illegal aliens and immigrants.

Why even bother having a federal government?

[Eowyn-of-Rohan]

Thanks for the info, but looks like they had better start checking for more than HIV and TB... IF possible

[OldFriend]

I just don't see these illegal immigrants rushing off the the Red Cross to donate blood. What am I missing here?

[neverdem]

"I just don't see these illegal immigrants rushing off the the Red Cross to donate blood. What am I missing here?"

Your missing the increasing prevalence due to immigration, the lack of any good screening test for a disease that has no effective treatment.

[Glock22]

I couldn't agree more with controlling immigration, but I must point out that Chagas' disease exists in America naturally, without having to be imported. This problem could well have developed even with sealed borders. And then there's the problem of travelers bringing it home as well.
Glock22, gastroenterologist

[OldFriend]

But I still don't see even legal immigrants rushing to donate blood. Unless of course, the Red Cross continues to pay for blood......as they did in the past in certain districts in San Francisco.

[DumpsterDiver]

Here's another one for the Ping list.

[Bikers4Bush]

It may exist in America naturally but I've never heard of it until now and the article indicates that it's most prevalent in illegal havens like Floriduh and Cookifornia.

While it's possible that we COULD have developed it I find more likely that it's being brought to us from unsanitary places. Even as you pointed out it being brought back by travelers.

There was a time when we actually required immigrants to show up with lung x-rays to keep out TB. Hell now we refuse to stop anyone who wants to from crawling across the border and seting up shop.

[vetvetdoug]

This protozoan also will infect animals. T. Cruzi has been diagnosed in dogs from Texas and down on the border fairly often. The Texas State Veterinarian is well aware of the problem, she mentioned it as one of emerging diseases when I spoke with her back in February.

[SpinyNorman]

Correction: "Because the disease is most common in rural areas from southern Mexico to northern Chile, the threat is greatest in American cities with many illegal immigrants from those areas.

"The disease is named for Carlos Chagas, the Brazilian doctor who described it in 1909. It is caused by a protozoan, Trypanosoma cruzi, which infects humans in a particularly disgusting way. Reduviids, also called kissing or assassin bugs, drop down from the thatch, follow the trail of carbon dioxide to the mouths of sleeping humans and suck their blood. They leave behind a protozoan-laden drop of feces, which the sleeper often inadvertently rubs into the itching wound.

Just damn. What next? Will they bring in alien facehuggers?

[dwd1]

Isn't this how HIV got into the blood supply...

Seems like history repeating itself... Profit before compassion...

[Born Conservative]

Healthcare exploding hearts and intestines ping...

[Born Conservative]

Chagas is arguably better than this parasite (see paragraph 3)