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When
it bites a person or an animal carrying Chagas' disease, it
ingests Tripanosoma Cruzi, the germs of the disease. The
trypanosomes multiply in its gut and are eliminated with the feces.
The barbeiro defecates after biting a person to suck the
blood. The bite causes itching, and when he scratches, the person
spreads the contaminated feces on the spot of the bite. The
trypanosomes enter the body through the bite, through a scratch,
or through the mucus of the eyes, nose or mouth. In the chronic
stage that afflicts Inácio, the disease jeopardizes the heart,
causing palpitation, edema, and breathlessness. It can also attack
the esophagus or the intestine.
No
effective treatment to cure this disease has yet been discovered.
Despite the permanent preventive campaign carried out by SUCAM (the
Health Campaign Superintendency), which sprays all the houses in
the rural zone with a specific insecticide once a year, this
insect survives and continues to infect men, women and children in
the North-East.
Perigo,
Inácio’s son, will continue to work for us, making it possible
to keep in touch with his father, even though he will now be
living in Patos. We wish Inácio and his family all the best, and
hope that he will enjoy a long, calm life in the town. |
