LEADER 00000pam 2200349 i 4500 003 DLC 005 20210909121630.0 008 210105s2021 oru b 000 0deng 010 2020057435 020 9781951142520|q(hardcover) 040 DLC|beng|erda|cDLC|dIMmBT|dUtOrBLW 042 pcc 043 n-us--- 082 00 616.9/363|223 092 616.9363|bHER 100 1 Hernández, Daisy,|eauthor. 245 14 The kissing bug :|ba true story of a family, an insect, and a nation's neglect of a deadly disease /|cDaisy Hernández. 250 First US edition. 264 1 Portland, Oregon :|bTin House,|c2021. 300 308 pages ;|c23 cm 336 text|btxt|2rdacontent 337 unmediated|bn|2rdamedia 338 volume|bnc|2rdacarrier 504 Includes bibliographical references (pages 270-308). 520 "Growing up in a New Jersey factory town in the 1980s, Daisy Hernández believed that her aunt had become deathly ill from eating an apple. No one in her family, in either the United States or Colombia, spoke of infectious diseases, and even into her thirties, she only knew that her aunt had died of a rare illness called Chagas. But as Hernández dug deeper, she discovered that Chagas--or the kissing bug disease--is more prevalent in the United States than the Zika virus. Today, more than three hundred thousand Americans have Chagas. Why do some infectious diseases make headlines and others fall by the wayside? After her aunt's death, Hernández begins searching for answers about who our nation chooses to take care of and who we ignore. Crisscrossing the country, she interviews patients, epidemiologists, and even veterinarians with the Department of Defense. She learns that outside of Latin America, the United States is the only country with the native insects--the "kissing bugs"--that carry the Chagas parasite. She spends a night in southwest Texas hunting the dreaded bug with university researchers. She also gets to know patients, like a mother whose premature baby was born infected with the parasite, his heart already damaged. And she meets one cardiologist battling the disease in Los Angeles County with local volunteers. The Kissing Bug tells the story of how poverty, racism, and public policies have conspired to keep this disease hidden --and how the disease intersects with Hernández's own identity as a niece, sister, and daughter; a queer woman; a writer and researcher; and a citizen of a country that is only beginning to address the harms caused by Chagas, and the dangers it poses. A riveting and nuanced investigation into racial politics and for-profit healthcare in the United States, The Kissing Bug reveals the intimate history of a marginalized disease and connects us to the lives at the center of it all"-- |cProvided by publisher. 650 0 Chagas' disease. 650 0 Communicable diseases|zUnited States|xSocial aspects. 650 0 Communicable diseases|zUnited States|xPolitical aspects. 650 0 Epidemics|zUnited States|xHistory|y20th century. 650 0 Families|xHealth and hygiene|vBiography.
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