Hey, it’s Valentine’s Day! No better day than today to discuss Chagas disease: the potentially deadly tropical infection caused by "kissing bugs!"

Last spring officials were keeping an eye on the treatable but not curable disease.

A study warned that warmer temperatures (caused by climate change) could drive the bug northwards from its current habitat in the country’s lower two thirds and the rate of Chagas would rise.

Researchers took a sampling of bugs from Arizona and California and found 38 percent of the bugs had human blood. Then they tested for the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi that causes Chagas and more than 50 percent of the bugs were found to be carriers.  Last March there were only seven documented cases of the disease in the United States and a Chagas expert said the transmission rate was “very low.”  

In Latin America about 8 million people have been infected by T. cruzi. The parasite is not just transmitted by the bug when it takes a blood meal from a human and leaves behind infected feces it can also be transmitted through contaminated food and drink, through blood, and from mother to child.

Current treatment for Chagas disease focuses on killing the parasite and then managing the symptoms. During the acute phase this means the use of prescription medications that can only be distributed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention here in the U.S.

During the chronic phase, that affects the heart and gastrointestinal tract, medications are no longer effective and Mayoclinic.com says depending on the patient’s symptoms there are two courses of action:

“Heart-related complications. Treatment may include medications, a pacemaker or other devices to regulate your heart rhythm, surgery, or even a heart transplant.

Digestive-related complications. Treatment may include diet modification, medications, corticosteroids or, in severe cases, surgery.”

Naturally, researchers are seeking a cure for Chagas and a team from Vanderbilt University and Meharry Medical College published a study that says they have cured Chagas in mice with a molecule called VNI.

VNI “specifically inhibits a T. cruzi enzyme essential for cell multiplication and integrity” which I think is the fancy way of saying VNI is an assassin that kills the enzyme dead. These results mean scientists are closer to finding a cure or safer treatment for humans.

Researchers reported that VNI cures with a 100 percent survival rate in both acute and chronic cases of infection in mice when administered orally at 25 mg/kg for 30 days.  More importantly VNI has no toxic side effects unlike this post which I hope has turned you off from kissing for at least 30 days if not more.