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Kissing Bugs
Published in Jerome Goddard, Public Health Entomology, 2022
Many members of the insect family Reduviidae have an elongate (cone-shaped) head, and hence the name conenose bugs (Figure 17.1). A relatively small but important group of these bugs within the subfamily Triatominae feeds exclusively on vertebrate blood. Notorious members of this group are frequently in the genus Triatoma, but not all. Triatomines are called kissing bugs because their blood meals are occasionally taken on the face or around human lips (Figure 17.2). Very often, their bites are painless; however, bite reactions may range from a single papule, to giant urticarial lesions, to anaphylaxis, depending on the degree of allergic sensitivity.1 In fact, at least one death from anaphylaxis due to a kissing bug bite has been reported in the western United States.2 Kissing bugs may also transmit the agent of Chagas disease, or American trypanosomiasis, one of the most important arthropod-borne diseases in tropical America.
Chemical Hybridization Approaches Applied to Natural and Synthetic Compounds for the Discovery of Drugs Active Against Neglected Tropical Diseases
Published in Venkatesan Jayaprakash, Daniele Castagnolo, Yusuf Özkay, Medicinal Chemistry of Neglected and Tropical Diseases, 2019
Elena Petricci, Paolo Governa, Fabrizio Manetti
Chagas disease is a zoonotic disease caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi that can be transmitted to humans by blood-sucking triatomine bugs (also known as the “kissing” bug) belonging to the genera Triatoma, Rhodnius, and Panstrongylus (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2018a). The parasite life cycle is divided in human (host) stages and triatomine bug stages. Chagas disease is currently treated with nifurtimox 1 and benznidazole 2 (Figure 1). Structure of active ingredients (nifurtimox and benznidazole) of drugs for Chagas disease.
Clinician’s Guide to Common Arthropod Bites and Stings *
Published in Gail Miriam Moraru, Jerome Goddard, The Goddard Guide to Arthropods of Medical Importance, Seventh Edition, 2019
Gail Miriam Moraru, Jerome Goddard
Kissing Bugs, or the bloodsucking Triatominae, generally produce a painless bite. They bite uncovered skin so the distribution of lesions may follow the pattern of exposure. Hypersensitivity to kissing bug bites increases with exposure and lesions range from pruritic papules to hemorrhagic nodules or even bullae. Anaphylaxis is rare, but has been reported, especially from bites by Triatoma protracta in the western U.S.7,8 In addition, kissing bugs are medically important arthropods as they can serve as vectors for Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas’ Disease.
Thio- and selenosemicarbazones as antiprotozoal agents against Trypanosoma cruzi and Trichomonas vaginalis
Published in Journal of Enzyme Inhibition and Medicinal Chemistry, 2022
Alexandra Ibáñez-Escribano, Cristina Fonseca-Berzal, Mónica Martínez-Montiel, Manuel Álvarez-Márquez, María Gómez-Núñez, Manuel Lacueva-Arnedo, Teresa Espinosa-Buitrago, Tania Martín-Pérez, José Antonio Escario, Penélope Merino-Montiel, Sara Montiel-Smith, Alicia Gómez-Barrio, Óscar López, José G. Fernández-Bolaños
Herein, we have focussed our attention on Chagas disease and trichomoniasis. On the one hand, Chagas disease (aka American trypanosomiasis), discovered by the Brazilian physician Carlos R.J. das Chagas in 1909, is endemic in Latin America, where it affects roughly 7 million people12; nevertheless, it is also being spread to USA, Canada, Europe and Australia, because of human migrations13, and therefore, becoming a global health problem14. Chagas disease is caused by the haemoflagellate protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, whose transmission to humans naturally takes place by contact with faeces or urine of infected triatomine insects. The infection can also be transmitted by non-vectorial routes, such as the iatrogenic and the congenital one12. The life-cycle of the parasite involves three stages: epimastigotes (extracellular and replicative form found in the intestine of the vector), amastigotes (intracellular and proliferative form of the vertebrate host) and trypomastigotes (extracellular and non-replicative state found in the bloodstream)15,16. Currently, there are only two available drugs for the specific treatment of Chagas disease: benznidazole (BZ), a nitroimidazole, and nifurtimox, a nitrofurane both showing some disadvantages (e.g., low efficacy in the chronic phase, adverse effects and parasite drug resistance) that constitute one of the main drawbacks of this parasitosis17.
Signal peptide peptidase: a potential therapeutic target for parasitic and viral infections
Published in Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Targets, 2022
Christopher Schwake, Michael Hyon, Athar H. Chishti
Trypanosoma cruzi is the etiologic agent of Chagas’ disease and Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense and gambiense are the etiologic agents of African sleeping sickness (Human African Trypanosomiasis, HAT). Both diseases present high mortality throughout their geographic regions. Chagas’ disease is transmitted by a triatomine vector, known by those in endemic regions as the kissing bug. Worldwide, Chagas’ affects 6 million people mainly in Latin-American countries as well as 300,000 people living in the US [44]. Triatomine bugs have established populations in the Southern United States, some of which are infected with T. cruzi [45]. The extent to which endemic transmission occurs in the US is unknown due to the low incidence of testing and diagnostic assays, but there has been reports of locally acquired Chagas’ disease in the past [46,47]. Disease can progress to a chronic infection resulting in serious heart inflammation and intestinal problems in those afflicted [48]. Chagas’ disease has very few treatment options with only two currently available drugs, benznidazole and nifurtimox. However, both compounds exhibit low efficacy toward the chronic form of the disease and deleterious side effects over a long treatment period can lead to noncompliance [48].
Plant-made vaccines against parasites: bioinspired perspectives to fight against Chagas disease
Published in Expert Review of Vaccines, 2021
Abel Ramos-Vega, Elizabeth Monreal-Escalante, Eric Dumonteil, Bernardo Bañuelos-Hernández, Carlos Angulo
Chagas disease–one of the most important neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)–affects around 10 million people worldwide and entails nearly 10 000 deaths each year [1]. This disease is caused by the intracellular parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, which is transmitted mostly by the triatomine bite. Skin lesions upon bites – or permissive mucosal and conjunctival surfaces – are in contact with triatomine feces that contain the protozoon trypomastigote, infecting neighbor cells, entering into the bloodstream and resulting in systemic complications, such as cardiomyopathy and enteropathies [2,3]. Other infective routes are blood transfusion [4], organ transplantation [5], congenital transmission [6,7], and oral contagion by consuming contaminated food and drinks [8]. Initially, Chagas disease was distributed and considered endemic in low-income regions of Latin America [9], but due to globalization and migration increase around the world, the disease has been observed in other continents [10,11].