Posted on 03/15/2007 10:35:15 AM PDT by AngelesCrestHighway
Parasite is a growing concern for healthcare professionals One in 3,800 donors in the L.A. area tested positive for Chagas, a deadly disease that is mainly found in Latin America. By Rong-Gong Lin II, Times Staff Writer March 15, 2007 - Information on Chagas disease A little-known but potentially deadly parasite from Latin America has become one of the latest threats to the blood and organ supplies in the United States, especially in Los Angeles, where many donors have traveled to affected countries, health officials say....... according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The parasite, which is generally passed to humans from a blood-sucking insect that looks like a striped cockroach, can feed over years on tissues of the heart and gastrointestinal tract. After decades, tissues can be eroded so much that the organs fail. Insect transmission of the parasite in the United States is rare, but public health and blood bank officials have been concerned about its increasing prevalence in the blood supply. In 1996, using an experimental test, the American Red Cross found that one in 9,850 blood donors in the L.A. area tested positive for the parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi. Two years later, it was one in every 5,400. By 2006, a more refined test detected the parasite in one in 3,800 donors. About 10% to 30% of infected people develop symptoms of chronic disease, experts say..... If caught early, strong anti-protozoal drugs such as nifurtimox can bring the parasite to undetectable levels or, in some cases, eliminate it entirely. If the parasite is given the chance to multiply over years or decades, however, those infected may have to be treated with heart-regulating drugs or get a pacemaker or heart transplant.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Yeah, more money for you, that's what it's all about, isn't it? While the rest of us pay the bill for the care of illegal aliens. Nice. It's doctors like you the rest of us try to avoid. Enjoy your clientele, and be sure to double those gloves.
You need to read some works by Dr. Madeline Cosner, a doctor with a conscience.
And when they ARE in mexico, they sure as hell aren't slumming... they are in resorts or on cruise ships where cleanliness is a tightly-controlled factor.
The argument that this stuff comes in on tourists is ridiculous.
"especially in Los Angeles, where many donors have traveled to affected countries, health officials say....... "
I did! You should read the political correctness more closely. Who says the donors - in LA - aren't either 1) Illegals or 2) those who caught the parasites from illegals. How different is the population in many LA neighborhoods from those of Mexico? How many came illegally with no health screening?
You can keep waiting for the MSM tells you the entire story - or learn how to READ between the lines.
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