300,000-Plus Americans Infected With This Dangerous Parasite

Good evening. And right before we dive into the story on parasites, I'll quickly mention that if you are just tired of the media landscape in this country with the bias and the pushing of narratives and just the ignoring of inconvenient stories, well, you're in luck. You can consider trying the Epic Times. Right now, you can still catch the Labor Day sale, which is kind of funny. Labor Day is so far away, but you can still catch that sale, and it's a great deal. It's only 50 cents a week for the entire year. And by trying it, you can get access to everything. All the infographics we have up on there, all the videos, the documentaries, the great articles, the analysis pieces, everything. And so again, if you've been looking for an honest source of news that actually respects your intelligence, consider trying the Epic Times. The link will be right there at the top of the description box below. Again, it's only 50 cents a week for the whole year. You can cancel anytime, so there's really no risk to try. And they're also offering two free gifts with that trial subscription. So, click on that link, check out what those gifts are, and I hope you try the epic times. Now, shifting gears, let's dive into the main topic, which has to do with this right here. It's what's known as a kissing bug, which is, you can say, a pretty nice sounding name considering what this thing actually is. It's literally a blood sucking parasite. They're about an inch long. They're usually dark brown or black with these red or orange markings around the edges of their bodies. And in recent years, they've become, you can say, fairly common in the southern part of the country, in the southern states, especially in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, as well as the southern part of California. Although, I think it's worth mentioning that there have also been reported sightings of these particular bugs in at least two dozen other states as well. In fact, up on your screen, this is a map from the CDC showing all of the different states where there have been reports of these kissing bugs. And that's, by the way, just here in the US, down in Mexico, in Central America, as well as in South America, they are a lot more common and ubiquitous. But here in the US, well, they're basically concentrated in the southern part of the country, the part that is closest to Mexico. Now, the MMO for these bugs is to hide during the day in shady spots and then come out at night in order to feed on both humans as well as animals. And the reason that they're called kissing bugs is because they have this tendency to bite people near the eyes and mouth while that person sleeps, giving them, you could say, a little kiss. But it's not the type of kids that you would ever want because again, these things, they're literally parasites that transmit something called shagas disease, which has actually now become so prevalent here in the US that the CDC recently came out with this study right here that you can see up on your screen, saying that for one, there are approximately 300,000 Americans infected with these parasites. And that secondly, Shaga's disease is now considered endemic here in the US because of it. Let me read to you exactly how the infection occurs. Quote, "Kissing bugs, also known as cone nose or barber bugs, transmit the parasite tponosoma cruisy to humans, which causes shagas disease. The bugs bite humans to access blood. After that, the bugs deposit their droppings containing the parasites into human skin. If the droppings get into the body via a cut or through the eyes or mouth, the individuals may end up getting infected. For instance, when a person scratches the bite, the parasites may enter the wound and into the bloodstream. The CDC warned that the illness can potentially lead to sudden death in some individuals. So that's obviously pretty rough. And once someone is infected with this disease and if they hopefully don't experience sudden death and instead go through the natural cycle of the disease, the problem is that the symptoms are very similar to other illnesses. And so people might not even consider that they have shagus, which is unfortunate because during the early stages it can be treated relatively easily. In fact, the UCLA health care system, they recently published an article, you can see it up on your screen, detailing how the symptoms actually develop in two distinct phases. Here's what they wrote about phase number one. Quote, "Many people with Shaga's disease are asymptomatic throughout its acute and chronic phases. During the acute phase, which lasts about 2 months, some people experience severe swelling of the eyelid, which is almost a hallmark of acute shagus infection. Other acute symptoms may include fever, fatigue, bodyaches, headache, loss of appetite, diarrhea, and vomiting. But because these symptoms are similar to those of other illnesses, most people don't immediately consider the source to be infection with tea cruisy parasite. And so that right there is the problem. During the acute phase lasting the first two months, the symptoms are very similar to a bunch of other illnesses. And so most people they probably they wouldn't even consider the possibility of having been infected with this particular parasite. But it's only during the acute phase that antiparasitic medications actually work. If the disease develops beyond that into the chronic phase, medication can no longer really help. Quote during the chronic phase of the disease which can last a lifetime about 20% of those infected will develop serious heart or digestive problems. Shaga's disease can cause an enlarged heart, heart failure, or cardiac arrest, an enlarged colon, or an enlarged esophagus. Left untreated, Shaga's disease kills the heart very slowly. For your reference, WH estimates say that roughly 10,000 people per year die of Shaga's disease. Now, this notice from the UCLA health system, it goes on to say that while many people are able to manage their condition with heart medications, there's a percentage of people in that chronic phase who wind up needing heart transplants, which is of course bad enough on its own, but to make matters worse, receiving a transplant can actually reactivate the disease. Quote, some patients can manage their condition with cardiac medication to treat heart failure, while others may need a heart transplant. Patients of Shaga's disease as cause of endstage heart failure generally do very well after heart transplantation and they can live a full and high functioning life after the transplant. Transplantation however can reactivate shagas disease in those infected. So patients are monitored regularly to check for recurrence of the disease. If shagus returns these patients can be treated with antiparasite medication. However, antiparasite medications are only effective against chagas during the acute phase or recurrence after a transplant. All right, I'd like to quickly introduce today's sponsor, which is Native Path. Look, what if I told you that most of the collagen products you see on the market, they're not only a waste of money, but also at the same time, they're filled with toxins that can cause skin problems, heart issues, even memory decline. Now, if you hear that, you say, "Okay, if that's the case, I'll just stop taking collagen." But collagen is really good for you. 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Mysterious bite marks around the face after waking up from sleep. fever, fatigue, body aches, headache, loss of appetite, diarrhea, as well as vomiting. The last few are pretty common among many different illnesses. So, I guess if you have a swelled eye or bite marks in the face, just keep chaga's disease in mind. As the UCLA article mentioned, the disease is on the rise, especially in the areas that border Mexico, and that many Americans who are infected actually don't know that they're infected by a huge margin. Here's what they wrote. Quote, "Experts estimate about 45,000 people in Los Angeles County are infected, among more than 300,000 in the United States, and fewer than 2% of them know that they carry the parasite transmitted by the kissing bug, which is wild. Fewer than 2% know that they have the parasite, meaning if you reverse it, 98% of them don't know that they have it." If you'd like to dig deeper into the story into the transmission history of the disease, the developing prevalence of these bugs in the US over the last 30 years, as well as what might actually be leading to their prevalence, I'll throw several resources down into the description box below this video, so you can check them out if you're the type of person that likes to dig into the weeds. And as an aside, I'll also mention a few things. One, I hope you like and subscribe to this uh like this video and subscribe to this channel if you appreciate this content. Secondly, if you are just interested in getting an uns unbiased source of news, consider trying the Epic Times. That Labor Day sale is still running. The link will be down there in the description box below. Check it out. There's also two free gifts that they're offering with every subscription. So, you can click on that link, check out what those gifts are before you actually uh make make the uh make the purchase. And then lastly, I have a new channel called Prime Time, a new YouTube channel. Check it out. We actually have not not a companion episode, but sort of thematically similar episode to this one here where we go through what RFK Jr. is up to at the HHS. If you want to check out that episode, I'll link to link it down there in the description box as well. So, a lot of different links you can check out if you're interested. And then uh otherwise, hope you are enjoying your week. Hope you do not ever have an encounter with this parasite. But if you do or someone you know do, I really hope that the information presented today will help you catch it in its acute phase. You take those antiparasitic medications and then you move on with your life, never having to worry about an enlarged heart, enlarged esophagus or whatever else comes with it. It seems like a nightmare. Uh so yeah, I hope this information helps someone. And then until next time, I'm your host Roman from the Epic Times. Stay informed and most importantly, stay free.