Chagas disease is not just a tropical illness—it's increasingly being diagnosed in the southern United States, including Texas, Florida, and other Gulf Coast states. Caused by the Trypanosoma cruzi parasite and spread by the kissing bug, this disease often goes undetected until it's too late.
In this video, Dr. Dray, board-certified dermatologist, explains:
✔️ What Chagas disease is
✔️ How it spreads through kissing bugs
✔️ Early skin signs like chagoma and Romaña’s sign
✔️ Why it's often misdiagnosed in the U.S.
✔️ How to prevent, test for, and treat the infection
If you live in or travel to southern states, or care for children, pets, or immunocompromised individuals, this is critical information to help protect your health.
📍 Timestamps / Chapters
00:00 – Intro: What is Chagas disease?
01:00 – Transmission & U.S. presence
02:06 – Acute vs chronic symptoms
03:08 – Skin warning signs: chagoma, Romaña’s sign
05:02 – High-risk groups: babies, pet owners, immunocompromised
06:14 – Diagnosis: testing & when to see a doctor
07:09 – Prevention tips & treatment options
08:12 – Final thoughts & takeaways
🔗 Resources Mentioned:
CDC:
U.S. kissing bug map & species info:
Skin Signs of Illness Playlist:
FTC: This video is not sponsored. Links are commissionable, meaning I may earn commission from purchases made through links.
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Disclaimer: This video is not intended to provide diagnosis, treatment or medical advice. Content provided on this Youtube channel is for informational purposes only. Please consult with a physician or other healthcare professional regarding any medical or health related diagnosis or treatment options. Information on this Youtube channel should not be considered as a substitute for advice from a healthcare professional. The statements made about specific products throughout this video are not to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease.
Happy Friday Dr Dray so excited to be here love the videos have a nice day ❤️
Happy Friday!
Good morning Dr Dray ❤
Happy Friday!
Great! Something else for me to worry about. Lol. I already have chronic Lyme.
RA here
Hey Dr Dray. Love your videos. Your skin looks so glowy and healthy.❤❤❤
Thanks!
I knew about Chagas Disease years ago thanks to Tracy’s Paws, Tracy has a dog rescue in Hondo Texas & she has been checking all her dogs for years & has educated all of us who support her. I’m glad to see that people are now being made aware of this problem. Thank you for doing this educational video! Have a great weekend!❤️
How does one check the dogs?
New fear unlocked! But thank you for keeping us informed!
thanks for watching!
Wow! I studied this parasite during my research fellowship as a biology student. We had extensive safety protocols, but I was still paranoid about Chaga’s disease when I developed Lupus years later.
Thank you! This is truly great info for our health (and nightmares).
thanks for watching!
Cetaphil has a new Nourishing Oil to Foam Cleanser that supposedly double cleanses in one step.
The ‘prevention tips’ are? Seal up cracks in the exterior of your house? I missed if there were any prevention tips related to pets.
Knowledge is power but we’re also scared! 😅
I had a kissing bug WAKE ME UP in my sleep!!! It was crawling on me. I squashed it and it was filled with blood. I took a pic and asked ChatGPT and it confirmed, then asked the chagas dept in UCLA and they confirmed too. Freaked out, I scrambled to find a doctor that would do a blood test in time to treat it in the acute phase if I had it. Thank God it came back negative for Chagas. Such a pain! You can’t just get a prescription easily if you have Chagas, the CDC has to get involved. Be careful if you’re in CA too!
Weird. Wonder how all those parasites suddenly started showing up!
Why does the CDC need to get involved?
@DandelionCrayonsWe had an AC unit put into the wall and the guy left a bunch of open gaps where bugs could get in. We didn’t know until after the kissing bug visited us. Apparently, most of them are here in CA!
@mercedes4328 It’s because Chagas is rare in the U.S., so the CDC has to confirm cases and supply the medication (benznidazole or nifurtimox), since regular pharmacies don’t carry it and most doctors can’t prescribe it directly. I didn’t have to get to that step since my test was negative, but that’s what I read.
@MissMiisha, thankfully, you didn’t get to that step! Hopefully, the CDC acts quickly when necessary.
I was bitten by a kissing bug last year and I spent WEEKS trying to convince literally any healthcare provider to run a test for the parasitic infection that causes Chagas. The early test (when it’s still possible to prevent the development of Chagas disease with an antiparasitic) is literally just a blood smear under a microscope, but you can’t get it done anywhere in the US without CDC permission, which they do not grant. The antiparasitic script also has to be approved by the CDC, and they don’t approve that either. Thankfully when I finally convinced a doctor to order the PCR test after waiting the requisite several weeks (Schrodinger’s antibodies), it came back negative. But the longer you wait the less effective the antiparasitic treatment is, so if I hadn’t been as lucky there would be nothing I could do except wonder if I was going to stroke out in a decade or two. I’m glad we’re finally taking an interest in Chagas disease at the public health level in the US but we’re still hopelessly behind on the most basic diagnostic and preventative measures when it counts. I did get a pretty cool painting out of the misadventure though, so at least that’s something I suppose.
Wow. CDC permission is needed for a test??
US withholding diagnosis and tx is terrible
The CDC doesn’t grant permission nor the treatment? That’s awful!
If you want to know if you have it, donate blood to Red Cross, they check for Chagas
YOU MAKE ME SO HAPPY!!!
I live in Ar and thank you beyond words for posting! On point again. I tell everyone I can about you! I say “Dr. Dray – not to be confused with the musical artist” Sending love from your neighbor state!
I moved away from AZ back in 2018 because of kissing bugs. I found one in my home and for the last year before we moved had my kids, myself and husband by those mosquitoes nets for our beds. I ended up finding several more and made a contact with someone studying them at the University of Arizona and he explained how to capture them and place in alcohol to send to him. My parents still live there but have never seen any. We were definitely living out in the country and had pack rats and mice to deal with around the property. Kissing bugs love to nest with them. My parents are in a neighborhood and we do visit them. Thanks for getting this out there. I have been talking about them for years and trying to educate our friends and family back in AZ. Don’t have windows open or bright lights on during their season May to Oct as well as clearing around your house.
That’s weird. The Trypanosoma cruzi parasite and the insects that spread it through their feces are not endemic to the United States, but are common in rural areas of Mexico, Guatemala, and Central America. How mysterious. I wonder how they suddenly got here. What a puzzle.
Thanks for keeping us aware of this, Dr. Dray! Will definitely be spraying and cleaning even more.
Warming climate is thought to be a contributing factor to their northern move. 🙂
Happy weekend Dr Dray…see you tomorrow x💙🤩🎃
Your intelligence is intoxicating!
Good info. More photos of symptoms /skin conditions would have been beneficial