Reduviid bug

Reduviid bug
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 they are asleep. The 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 and that 50,000 die each year from it.

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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  • 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… …   Medical dictionary

  • reduviid — [ri do͞o′vē id, ridyo͞o′vē id] n. [< ModL Reduviidae < L reduvia, hangnail, remnant < OL redivia < * reduere, to strip away < red ,RE + uere < IE base * eu , to put on] ASSASSIN BUG …   English World 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

  • reduviid — noun a true bug: long legged predacious bug living mostly on other insects; a few suck blood of mammals • Syn: ↑assassin bug • Hypernyms: ↑heteropterous insect • Hyponyms: ↑conenose, ↑cone nosed bug, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • reduviid — noun Etymology: ultimately from Latin reduvia hangnail Date: 1888 assassin bug • reduviid adjective …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • reduviid — re·du·vi·id ri d(y)ü vē əd n any bug of the family Reduviidae reduviid adj * * * n. any one of a group of winged insects (Reduviidae) whose mouthparts adapted for piercing and sucking take the form of a long proboscis that is tucked beneath the… …   Medical dictionary

  • reduviid — /ri dooh vee id, dyooh /, n. See assassin bug. [1885 90; < NL Reduviidae, family name, equiv. to Reduvi(a) type genus (L: hangnail) + idae ID2] * * * …   Universalium

  • reduviid — noun any member of the Reduviidae family of insects, especially the assassin bug …   Wiktionary

  • reduviid — re•du•vi•id [[t]rɪˈdu vi ɪd, ˈdyu [/t]] n. ent assassin bug • Etymology: 1885–90; < NL Reduviidae family name < Reduvi(a) type genus (L: hangnail) …   From formal English to slang

  • 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

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