Bug, kissing

Bug, kissing
The insect that carries and transmits the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, the cause of Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis). The bug got its name because it appears to "kiss" people, especially babies, on the lips while they are asleep. The bug (technically a reduviid bug) lives in cracks and holes of substandard housing in South and Central America. The bug becomes infected after biting an animal or person who already has Chagas disease. The infection is spread to people when an infected bug deposits feces on a person’s skin, usually while the person is sleeping at night. The person often accidently rubs the feces into the bite wound, an open cut, the eyes, or mouth. Animals can become infected the same way, and they can also contract the disease by eating an infected bug. The parasite can also be transmitted by blood transfusion and it can cross the placenta during pregnancy to infect the fetus. It is estimated that 20 million people in the Americas have Chagas disease. Rural families there can lower the risk of the deadly Chagas Disease by not sleeping in the same room with chickens and dogs. Chickens and dogs kept in rural bedrooms form a reservoir for the insect that carries the parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi, that causes Chagas disease.

Medical dictionary. 2011.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Kissing bug — Kiss ing bug (Zo[ o]l.) Any one of several species of blood sucking, venomous Hemiptera that sometimes bite the lip or other parts of the human body, causing painful sores, as the cone nose ({Conorhinus sanguisuga}). [U. S.] [Webster 1913 Suppl.] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • kissing bug — ☆ kissing bug n. CONENOSE …   English World dictionary

  • kissing bugs — conenose cone nose, cone nose cone nose , n. A large bloodsucking hemipterous insect of the family {Reduviid[ae]}, often found in houses, esp. in the southern and western United States. It bites severely, and is one of the species called {kissing …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Kissing bug — The insect that carries and transmits the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, the cause of Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis). The bug got its name because it appears to kiss people, especially babies, on the lips while they are asleep. The bug… …   Medical dictionary

  • Bug, reduviid — The insect that carries and transmits the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi that is the cause of Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis). The bug is also called the kissing bug because it appears to kiss people, especially babies, on the lips while… …   Medical dictionary

  • kissing bug — noun large bloodsucking bug • Syn: ↑conenose, ↑cone nosed bug, ↑conenose bug, ↑big bedbug • Hypernyms: ↑assassin bug, ↑reduviid • Member Holonyms: ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • kissing bug — 1. Informal. a. a person much given to kissing. b. an irresistible desire to kiss or be kissed. 2. any of several assassin bugs that attack humans, sometimes inflicting painful bites. [1895 1900, Amer.] * * * …   Universalium

  • kissing bug — noun a bug from the family Hemiptera, that causes sores to the human body …   Wiktionary

  • kissing bug — noun a bloodsucking North American bug which inflicts a painful bite, often on the face. [Melanolestes picipes.] …   English new terms dictionary

  • kissing bug — kiss′ing bug n. ent conenose • Etymology: 1895–1900, amer …   From formal English to slang

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”