_1.thumbnail.jpg "Ometepe - Cows on Vacation")
How much of a problem is this in Nicaragua?
Does anyone have a first hand experience with the parasite infection?
http://www.allaboutchagasdisease.com/9-chagas-disease-information/photo-...
Unhappy events abroad have retaught us two simple truths about the liberty of a democratic people. The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of a private power to a point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power.
Charles Darwin may have had Chagas disease.
He wrote in his Voyage of the Beagle diary (1835, Argentina):
"... At night I experienced an attack (for it deserves no less a name) of the Benchuca, a species of Reduvius, the great black bug of the Pampas. It is most disgusting to feel soft wingless insects, about an inch long, crawling over one’s body. Before suckling they are quite thin, but afterwards they become round and bloated with blood, and in this state are easily crushed. One which I caught at Iquique, (for they are found in Chile and Peru), was very empty. When placed on a table, and thought surrounded by people, if a finger was presented, the bold insect would immediately protrude its sucker, make a charge, and if allowed, draw blood. No pain was caused by the wound. It was curious to watch its body during the act of sucking, as in less than ten minutes it changed from being as flat as wafer to a globular form." (stripped from Wiki)
Lovely.
Chagas
I met with a Doctor in Honduras that specializes in Chagas. The typical person contracting this disease lives in a house with dirt floors and dark corners. This is where the parasitic insect lives. Early treatment is successful, but lack of screening causes the disease to damage the heart, a condition known as Cardiac myopathy, the heart enlarges and gets "flabby". Unable to pump a sufficient amount of blood to the body. Commonly known as heart failure. At this point, the only treatment is a specialized pacemaker, costing $60 to $80 thousand to implant. Up here in the states, immigrants with Chagas are the primary cases. I have one of these devices treating another condition.
My understanding is the original hosts are monkeys
and thatch roofs, like dirt floor, don't help. I hadn't realized that early treatment was helpful.
Chagas and the mountain skin disease spread by biting very small flies are two reasons I think tent camping in Nicaragua would be less than optimal.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/jun/07/what-makes-countrie... is a review by Jared Diamond of a new book on why countries are poor. Diamond's review mentions the problem of diseases in the tropics as a factor, also cultural issues and soil exhaustion (not so much a problem in Nicaraguan areas with volcanos bringing up fertilizers, but pretty much a problem in the wet forest areas.
Rebecca Brown
A first world tent has much
A first world tent has much more insect protection than the average Nica house! Nonetheless, wearing clothes, sleeping with a mosquito net, and using repellent is critical. Excuse me, gotta go, we are having a party today so I have to go swat flies...
"You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality." Ayn Rand
As long as they stay in the tent
The little flies that carry mountain leprosy sometimes seem to be immune to DEET.
The idea of hut to hut hiking here, or staying with county families reminded me that an Australian got Hanta virus while hiking the Appalachian Trail and staying in AT lean-tos apparently. The CDC workers were in moon suits when they checked the places where he apparently stayed. Only the one case, but they've discovered since that various forms of Hanta virus are endemic in most rodent populations, most non-lethal to rodents or people.
Sometimes, people are just the unlucky ones.
If I camped out here, it would be in a hammock with a mosquito net rigged above it, guards against crawly things on the ropes suspending the hammocks. I suspect that's why indigenous people here used hammocks for sleeping -- gets the body off the ground.
Nicaraguans leave the plastic wrap on the box springs when they set up a bed, and Central American bedding doesn't hang to the floor.
And hasn't the flying termite season been fun?
Rebecca Brown
I met a guy in San Jose who
I met a guy in San Jose who had leishmaniasis. He got it after a 4 day trip to southeast CR, which is famous for this disease. He mentioned something about ``I went to work on a volunteer project and brought the wrong clothes``. He had a sore on his arm that would not heal. After being treated in the States, he came back to CR for further treatment in hopes that local doctors might have a better handle on it. The CDC website states that there are many different varieties of this desease, so local treatment might be a good idea.
Anyone interested in insect born diseases can do a search on this site and find info.
"You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality." Ayn Rand
The bites are nasty even if you don't get leishmaniasis
The flies will bite through thick skin, like the palms of your hands, and the bite places look nasty after a bit. I haven't hiked where there were black flies or biting midges, but that is what these guys seemed like. Never saw them, just felt them after the fact. They don't show up in town.
I don't hear of the snail-vectored things, so Central America is lucky. Also, no leeches, or so I've heard. And the ticks don't carry Lyme Disease.
Rebecca Brown
This was the last I saw on it...
http://www.elnuevodiario.com.ni/nacionales/243175
Your link above is alarming, but one has to wonder how accurate the threat is.
If, as the article goes, we need to start "blocking up key holes" or "any place an insect can get into the house", then we may as well pack up and leave.
For instance, much is said about Dengue, however, in 6 years continuous living here, I have only met two people that had real, confirmed cases of Dengue but have met a few drama queens with self diagnosed dengue which was actually any one of a million gripe strains.
Just one more thing of
Just one more thing of thousands that can kill you. If someone goes around worrying about diseases like this your not going to enjoy life very much. Just be careful in the everyday things you do and love life.
assumption of risk
If you live here you will take a couple years off your life one way or another. Good news: you won`t get frostbite.
We had one friend diagnosed with chagas. He is a agronomist who makes frequent trips to the countryside. He was diagnosed by accident in that he went to donate blood and they caught it in the screening. He went thru some type of treatment but I don`t know all the details. It is not known if all varieties of the chinche bug carry the disease. Stay away from bugs here in general.
I have known 5 people here (in 6 years) who have had dengue. 4 Nica kids who probably didn`t have sense enough to protect themselves from bites and one FWF going thru her initial stint of living like a NIca. Since most Nicas take little or no precaution to prevent bites and the public and municpalities all maintain vast zancudo hatcheries, it some how is still uncommon although subject to epidemics.
"You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality." Ayn Rand
A couple years off my life?
If I'd known about that devil's bargain before committing to Nicaragua, the deal might have fallen through.
Actually with the precipitous drop in 'stress-levels' here in mañana-land, I figure I've added years. There's that plus a diet of beans & rice - which I've actually grown to like - that's got to be good for me, beats burgers & fries hands down. Sprinkle in the TLC of a good relationship with a lovin' woman, and we're talking heart medicine that even BIG Pharma couldn't deliver, even to the top 1% (eat your heart out Richie Rich). And I've yet to mention the daily free sauna of life in the tropics, a healthful sweating that beats high impact exercise every day.
Bugs? No problem in the city . . . so far . . . knock on guayacan!
Chagas Has Been
hyped as the new Latin HIV epidemic. All the news organizations have picked it up and repeated it . .. It seems to be Bolivia-centric. You're reading the same article all over the world.
Probably nothing has actually changed since Dr Chagas died . . . :) Still a nasty thing to deal with and worth taking precautions to avoid the bite . .
And, apparently NOT ALL bugs are infested with the protozoa ... it's a nasty bite that probably wouldn't go unnoticed. You have time to check for the antibodies and undergo the course of treatment . . . .like HIV, a long incubation period.