The Atlantic: Northern Virginia: ‘Ground Zero’ for Kissing Bug Disease
“…The number of people with Chagas disease just outside the nation’s capital is small — about two dozen cases, according to interviews with local physicians — but doctors and experts say they wouldn’t be surprised if the numbers were higher. Doctors, unfamiliar with the disease, are not routinely screening for it, and many patients tend to be undocumented immigrants without health insurance. While Chagas doesn’t pose a risk to the general population in the U.S., patient advocates … believe the disease continues to be ignored because of its connections to poverty and immigration…” (Hernández, 7/24).