Parasites in Poverty Areas of US and Brought to US Shores

[tcmgpt13]

I don't think this article has been posted yet, but I think it explains a lot about what is happening in the US today and why we are seeing so many parasites which were never seen here before:

PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases: Neglected Infections of Poverty in the United States of America

One paragraph in this article discussing migrant workers could explain a lot about what could be happening to the food supply in the US:

"Neglected infections among migrant farm workers.

Approximately 95% of the several million migrant agricultural workers in the US were born in Mexico, and almost all of them live below the poverty line [92]. They have significant health disparities, with case fatality rates more than five times the US average. In addition to very high rates of HIV, tuberculosis, and chronic diseases [92], [125]–[127], the Mexican-born migrant workers living in the US often suffer from high rates of parasitic infection, including ascariasis and hookworm infection [92], [128]–[130] (for which there is evidence of autochthonous transmission on US farms [131]), cysticercosis and Chagas disease [127],[131], and other neglected infections [92],[125]."

Thanks to today's liberal immigration policies which allow sick people to enter the US (unheard of in past migrations where immigrants were not allowed entry if sick) we can probably look forward to Chagas disease, Leprosy (reintroduced after eradication in US), tuberculosis (reintroduced in virulent antibiotic resistant forms), Malaria, Dengue fever, Cysticercosis, Leishmania mexicana (some residents of South Texas are getting this with no travel history) and Schistosomiasis as well as other difficult to treat parasites and diseases becoming permanent US parasitic and disease infections. There is a lot of important information in this article. Maybe it should be copied and brought in to all doctors so that they can see there is no way to escape parasites in today's world, where somehow the most basic ideas of disease/parasite prevention seem to have gone by the board. It makes me wonder too if Morgellons parasites could be a tropical parasitic infestation of the blood and lymph previously unknown in Western nations.

[Kritters]

Well ain't that just fine and dandy (not that we didn't know this already...but glad it's being put out there in black and white). So, who do we address about allowing sick immigrants into our country? Even if that's put in check, look at all the illegals slipping through.

TC, I wouldn't be at all surprised if, as you say, the Morgellons parasite is a tropical infestation.

Kritts

[tcmgpt13]

Well, guess not Kritts, about the fine and dandy. Doubt if things will change at all unless those in power have their relatives or themselves infected. Of course they will have adequate medical care, but I doubt it will save them from the ravages of Chagas disease, which looks to me to be fairly incurable.

As a nation the answer to the difficult questions of what to do about illegal aliens who cross our border bringing parasitic and other diseases with them, well it is impossible for us to answer. Still someday the illnesses that these folks introduce and the cost they create for our medical care will have to be addressed. By whom? I think at some point we may have to ask those in government to address this issue. There are not enough resources to take care of our own people, much less those who are not citizens.

Adding the entire article to this post:

Parasitic disease found in blood near border

By The Washington Times

Thursday, February 22, 2007

A large study of blood donations collected from two U.S. border states found that nearly one in 5,000 was positive for Chagas’ disease, a potentially fatal parasitic disorder endemic in Latin America, according to a federal report.

In a separate study, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) disclosed that adults in three states — Missouri, California and Washington — contracted measles last summer after traveling to China to adopt children.

Both studies, published in the current issue of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, show how infectious diseases are entering the United States through immigration and foreign travel.

Chagas’ disease affects an estimated 11 million people throughout Latin America, and nearly a third suffer chronic cardiac or gastrointestinal illnesses. Cardiac conditions include a diseased heart, irregular heartbeat and sudden death.

Dr. Louis V. Kirchhoff, a Chagas’ disease specialist at the University of Iowa’s medical school, has estimated that as many as 10 percent of the Mexicans who migrate to the United States are infected.

The disease is caused by the blood-borne parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. In endemic areas, it is transmitted primarily by triatomine insects commonly known as “kissing bugs.”

Infection also may occur via blood transfusion, congenital transmission, organ transplantation, laboratory incident and ingestion of triatomine-tainted food or drink.

The American Red Cross compiled data from the blood-donation screening for Chagas’ disease after analysis of 148,969 blood samples collected from August to last month from blood centers in Los Angeles and Oakland, Calif., and in Tucson, Ariz.

A study conducted in 2005 involved about 40,000 blood donors. That clinical trial found no blood samples positive for Chagas’ disease.

The Red Cross and Blood Systems Inc., collection agencies that are responsible for nearly two-thirds of the nation’s blood supply, began screening for Chagas’ disease on Jan. 29. In a statement about the measles study in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the CDC said, “It is increasingly rare to see certain vaccine-preventable diseases in this country, especially among adults.”

The authors of the study about three American women in their late 30s who contracted measles in July and August after visiting China to adopt babies wrote: “Diseases that are no longer endemic in the United States continue to occur among travelers, often resulting in delayed recognition and delayed notification of public health authorities.”

The Missouri, California and Washington women were among a group of 11 U.S. families that flew to China last summer to adopt children from three orphanages in Guangdong province.

All developed skin rashes when they returned to the U.S. Diagnosis was delayed while health care providers considered other causes such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever and an allergic reaction to penicillin. The women said they had been vaccinated against measles as children, but the vaccinations could not be documented.

The women all “recovered fully” and did not infect anyone else, the authors said.

washingtontimes.com/news/2007/feb/22/20070222-111038-5018r/

[Jo]

Infection rate for Chagas, 1 in 5,000, wow.

Climate change is gonna affect things alot I reckon. My gut feeling is that morgs is tropical/sub-tropical, and I lean this way because of the colours involved, mostly.

But also cuz I was in the Dominican republic the year i came down with morgs -possibly infected through snorkelling, climbing and jumping in waterfalls in the rainforest or being biten by a tropical insect from Cuba. These are my best guesses.

I cant see how morgellons couldnt be a parasite...an organism, rather than an inorganic novel compound or man-made chemical.

I know about TCM's fish eating incident. Kritts, do you have any ideas how/when you started feeling itchy and scratchy? Not sure I know your 'story' buddy.

Jo xxx

[Kritters]

Yeah Joey.. I do. But there are so many things that could have been my pathogens. I'm a virtual pathogen's dream host. It was a few years ago, and I thought I caught some chiggers (that's what I'd heard them called) from weeding out my ornamental grasses in the very moldy soil we have here on the bay. Interestingly, after all this time, my main spot with lesions now is the same as when it began...left upper arm. I felt that biting I couldn't do anything about. Even knuckle punching didn't work. I'm not sure how long afterward I developed these lesions on my left forearm.

But here's the kicker... I don't think it was the chiggers at all. Here's what I've been exposed to:

tick bites
live across the bay from wastewater treatment plant
live across the bay from coal burning power plant with mercury vapors
have MAJOR mould issue in my house
have herpes virus
MAJOR chemtrails for years
walked the beach daily barefooted
kayaked regularly in that bay water

I know I'm forgetting something.

Oh yes! Ate MAJOR amounts of sushi in the last 4 years. (no wonder sushi and martini bars are common... the vodka should kill the kritters in the sushi ;0)

So... I have no idea what this is from, but I'm guessing mould looking for love in all the wrong places and hooking up with other pathogens in my body.

Sorry you asked? LOL

xoxo
Kritts

[jonsi]

I live in northern New Mexico where I estimate 15% of the population is from Mexico (non-English speaking). It doesn't matter whether they are legal or not. I have yet to see one of these "immigrants" with Morgellons lesions.

I believe that if I had a parasite, it would be just that. Not the fungus (aspergillus?), virus (lymes?), strep in my lungs, giardia, parasites found in mass produced milk, fibers that the FBI can't identify....

I agree that Doctors need to address the parasite issue. From personal experience I found that homeopathic Doctors look for parasites first (mine did...). Americans have more parasites than Africans. But for the government to now blame "Morgellons" on immigrants would be a plain, bold faced lie! It will be a scape goat and I have read that "Morgellons" will be blamed on immigrants from other countries.

The FDA, EPA etc. need someone to blame because they want to avoid the real issue here. I believe "Morgellons" is man made. Let's not blame our brothers and sisters who come to our country for a better life. We we're blessed to be born here.

Not that anyone asked me, LOL!

Itwl,
~jonsi

[tcmgpt13]

I don't think this article is discussing morgellons parasites, but all the other parasites which are being introduced by legal immigrants and illegal aliens. It also discusses the problems found among legal citizens in poorer sections of the US. So no one (yet) seems to be accusing immigrants of introducing morgellons to the world, as morgellons seems to found all over the world. Still with the amount of parasites out there which remain unidentified, it is hard to say that morgellons could not have come from a tropical climate, of which there are many examples in both hemispheres. I think it is time though for the government to quit ignoring the known parasitic diseases which have been introduced into the US in the last few decades by people entering from outside its borders, not just from Mexico but from all over the world. This fact was touched on by this article too. It is frightening as many of the parasites and the diseases being introduced into areas previously free of them are very serious and, similar to morgellons, have no effective medicine for any real cure. The introduction of Chagas disease into US blood supplies, a disease previously unknown in the US, did not come from thin air but is coming from the large numbers of folks entering from the Southern US border:

"Dr. Louis V. Kirchhoff, a Chagas' disease specialist at the University of Iowa's medical school, has estimated that as many as 10 percent of the Mexicans who migrate to the United States are infected."

I do hold those in government responsible for that, as they have allowed people to come here without any sort of health testing which was required in past eras before antibiotics were readily available, but we are returning to those times today as many antibiotics no longer work.
Also many diseases and parasites can be introduced even by those handling food in fields, in stores and in restaurants.

"Infection also may occur via blood transfusion, congenital transmission, organ transplantation, laboratory incident and ingestion of triatomine-tainted food or drink."

It is possible to control borders if any real effort is made. It is possible to send unhealthy people back to countries of origin when applying for entry as was done in the past. It is possible to not allow carriers of disease to handle food (remember the stories of typhoid Mary, a woman of Irish descent). This is how governments could make a partial attempt to keep legal citizens healthier. If such efforts had made perhaps the transport of parasites like Chagas and diseases like the reintroduction of leprosy would be greatly reduced or non-existent today in the US.

BTW, New Mexico has this statistic in the year 2000:

New Mexico had the highest proportion of Hispanics--42 percent. Though how many originate in Mexico is not stated.

Hispanics in New Mexico were 42 percent of the total state population, the highest proportion for any state.

[tcmgpt13]

Here is a CDC discussion of Leishmaniasis infections which are now found in Southern Europe:

Leishmaniasis

Abstract

The risk for reintroduction of some exotic vector-borne diseases in Europe has become a hot topic, while the reality of others is neglected at the public health policy level. Leishmaniasis is endemic in all southern countries of Europe, with ≈700 autochthonous human cases reported each year (3,950 if Turkey is included). Asymptomatic cases have been estimated at 30–100/1 symptomatic case, and leishmaniasis has up to 25% seroprevalence in domestic dogs. Even though leishmaniasis is essentially associated with Leishmania infantum and visceral leishmaniasis, new species, such as L. donovani and L. tropica, might colonize European sand fly vectors. Drug-resistant L. infantum strains might be exported outside Europe through dogs. Despite this possibility, no coordinated surveillance of the disease exists at the European level. In this review of leishmaniasis importance in Europe, we would like to bridge the gap between research and surveillance and control.

The entire article is posted here:

Neglect of Leishmaniasis, Europe | CDC EID

[tcmgpt13]

http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/14/4/644.htm

Abstract
Chagas disease (CD) is endemic to Latin America; its prevalence is highest in Bolivia. CD is sometimes seen in the United States and Canada among migrants from Latin America, whereas it is rare in Europe. We report 9 cases of imported CD in France from 2004 to 2006.

"The diagnosis of CD is not always straightforward in France. The current rarity of CD in Europe and the purely cardiologic (and sometimes gastrointestinal) manifestations of the chronic phase represent a diagnostic challenge. In France, few cardiologists and gastroenterologists are fully aware of this infectious disease. In the United States, because imported cases of CD are no longer exceptional, a Chagas screening test for blood donors was implemented in 2007 (15). The 9 cases we report, along with other recent cases, may be a sign that CD is emerging in France. If this imported disease becomes established in France, it could represent a real risk for transfusional and congenital transmission, not only in metropolitan areas in France but also in other European countries with a high Latin American immigrant population."

[tcmgpt13]

Here is an article from the Wall Street Journal about the introduction of previously unknown parasitic diseases into the native population by legal and illegal immigrants to the US. Some of this has been discussed in prior posts on this thread, but this is a more recent discussion. Introduced parasitic disease is a serious health issue which the government has until recently totally ignored, imperiling millions of people who live in areas where these diseases were totally unknown previously. Not any more, as you will read in this article.

In past times people who had parasitic disease (they were tested for them) or other infectious diseases (ditto) were denied entry into the country due to their illness. Unless this public health issue is addressed many otherwise healthy people in the US who should not have to worry about exposure to these parasites will become severely ill, all due to such lax government policies. The days when medications worked as they should are coming to an end. There are antibiotic resistant bacteria and dewormers which no longer are as effective against parasites. Some of the newly introduced parasitic diseases currently have no real cure or effective dewormers. When will Western nations wake up and realize this? It may even be too late now. Chagas has entered the blood supply and can also be spread by direct contact such as from food handlers.

Congress may act, but the blame is being put on the poor once more because of their poverty. Some uneducated doctors still believe those who live in the suburbs are at low risk for exposure. The main poverty issue here is the poor government policies which should have controlled this situation before it ever became a public health issue. To have a country remain healthy some people should be told they may not enter it unless or until they are well, just as was done in past migrations here. To see how many cases of these serious parasite illness are in the US already be sure to enlarge the picture in this article. One of them, toxocara, may cause retinal blindness. All of these diseases are extremely serious.

AUGUST 22, 2009

• Developing World's Parasites, Disease Hit U.S.
  Researchers Say Infections Spread by Bug Bites, Larvae Are Flourishing Along Border and in Other Pockets of Poverty

By STEPHANIE SIMON and BETSY MCKAY

Parasitic infections and other diseases usually associated with the developing world are cropping up with alarming frequency among U.S. poor, especially in states along the U.S.-Mexico border, the rural South and in Appalachia, according to researchers.
Government and private researchers are just beginning to assess the toll of the infections, which are a significant cause of heart disease, seizures and congenital birth defects among black and Hispanic populations.
Click on the image to see diseases associated with developing countries that are becoming common in the U.S.

One obstacle is that the diseases, long thought to be an overseas problem, are only briefly discussed in most U.S. medical school classes and textbooks, so many physicians don't recognize them.

Some of the infections are transmitted by bug bites and some by animal feces contaminated with parasite larvae; still others are viral. All spread in conditions of overcrowding, malnutrition, poor sanitation and close contact with animals receiving little veterinary care.

"These are diseases that we know are ten-fold more important than swine flu," said Peter Hotez, a microbiologist at George Washington University and leading researcher in this field. "They're on no one's radar."
The insect-borne diseases -- among them, Chagas and dengue fever -- thrive in shanty towns along the Mexican border, where many homes have no window screens and where poor drainage allows standing puddles for bugs to breed. Outbreaks of a bacterial infection transmitted in rat urine have cropped up among the urban poor in Baltimore and Detroit.

Such parasites as toxocara -- shed in animal feces -- thrive in the soil and sandpits where poor children often play. There are an estimated 10,000 toxocara infections a year in the U.S. Symptoms include wheezing, fever and retinal scarring severe enough to blind.

These diseases share a common thread. "People who live in the suburbs are at very low risk," Dr. Hotez said. But for the 37 million people in the U.S. who live below the poverty line, he said, "There is real suffering."
Consider cysticercosis, caused by ingestion of tapeworm larvae. Medical journals estimate 3,500 new cases a year in the U.S., mostly among Latin American immigrants. The larvae spread through the bloodstream and can damage the heart, lungs and brain.

Several times a year, pregnant women complaining of seizures come into Jeanne Sheffield's obstetrics practice at Parkland Health & Hospital System in Dallas, which serves a mostly poor, Hispanic population. Dr. Sheffield orders MRIs and often finds lesions in the brain, a telltale sign of this parasitic infection.

In recent years, as the immigrant population has spread, Dr. Sheffield said, cysticercosis has cropped up in states that have never had to deal with it before, including Iowa, Missouri, Ohio and Oregon. Treatment is available but complex; patients must remain on anti-seizure medicine for years.

Chagas disease, another troubling infection, begins with the innocent-sounding "kissing bug," an insect endemic in parts of Latin America and also found in across the American South, especially Texas.
The bugs are often infected with a tiny protozoan parasite, which they excrete after snacking on human or animal blood. When a bite victim scratches, he may accidentally rub the parasite into his open wound -- and an infection takes hold. Chagas spreads more easily in poor rural communities where homes without window screens get infested.

Many of those ill with Chagas are immigrants or travelers who became infected elsewhere; as many as half develop complications such as cardiac inflammation that can cause heart failure.

Most blood banks in the U.S. began screening for Chagas in the past two years, as concern about the disease mounted. Hundreds of cases have been detected, with especially high rates among Hispanics in Florida and California.

Nationally, one in 30,000 potential blood donors tests positive -- yet many don't seek treatment even after they are told they have Chagas, said Susan Stramer, executive scientific officer of the American Red Cross. Many are immigrants who don't want to draw attention: "They're afraid of the consequences of finding out they're infected in the U.S," she said.
One of the few Chagas clinics in the nation is run by Sheba Meymandi, a physician at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.
Dr. Meymandi hits the road one weekend a month with a car full of PVC piping and lengths of cloth, which she uses to transform church sanctuaries into makeshift clinics with curtained exam rooms. At each stop, she tries to persuade Latinos to be tested.

It is a hard sell. Those who feel fine see no need to be tested for what sounds like an exotic disease. And those who have heard about Chagas have also heard that the treatment is exceptionally grueling -- three daily doses of a drug that can cause insomnia, nausea, memory loss and a possible lack of sensation in the limbs. The cure rate is about 70%.

Dr. Meymandi presses on, spurred by the reports that regularly cross her desk, such as the recent case of a 38-year-old gardener who dropped dead, his heart ruined by the parasite. "This is no longer an exotic disease," Dr. Meymandi. "It's prevalent."

Public-health experts say the first step in fighting the infections is to learn more about them. "We understand the basic biology," said Mark Eberhard, who directs the parasitic-diseases division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "But we don't understand that much about the burden of these diseases."

Hoping to raise awareness -- and money for research -- the CDC is teaming with private foundations to organize a national summit this fall for doctors, nurses, community activists and politicians.

Health-care legislation pending in the House calls for a full report to Congress about the threat from this cluster of diseases, termed "neglected infections of poverty," as their consequences threaten to increase U.S. health-care costs.

Developing World's Parasites, Disease Hit U.S. - WSJ.com