The kissing bug : a true story of a family, an insect, and a nation's neglect of a deadly disease / Daisy Hernández.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hernández, Daisy, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chagas' disease.

Communicable diseases--Social aspects--United States.

Communicable diseases.

Communicable diseases--Political aspects--United States.

Epidemics--United States--History--20th century.

Epidemics.

Families--Health and hygiene--Biography.

Families.

Chagas Disease.

Communicable Diseases.

Communicable diseases--Political aspects.

Communicable diseases--Social aspects.

Families--Health and hygiene.

History.

United States.

Medical Subjects:

Chagas Disease.

Communicable Diseases.

Genre:

Biographies.

History.

Physical Description:

308 pages ; 23 cm

Edition:

First US edition.

Distribution:

[United States] : W.W. Norton, [2021]

Place of Publication:

Portland, Oregon : Tin House, 2021.

Summary:

"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"-- Provided by publisher.

Growing up in a New Jersey factory town in the 1980s, Hernández only knew that her aunt had died of a rare illness called Chagas. Digging deeper, she discovered more than three hundred thousand Americans have Chagas-- or the kissing bug disease. Why do some infectious diseases make headlines and others fall by the wayside? Hernández interviews patients, epidemiologists, and even veterinarians with the Department of Defense. Outside of Latin America, the United States is the only country with the native insects that carry the Chagas parasite. Hernández show how poverty, racism, and public policies have conspired to keep this disease hidden. -- adapted from jacket

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: IN SEARCH OF MY FAMILY'S STORY

Palabras

The Apple

Bichos

Dr. Chagas

Peleas

It Sounds Worse in Spanish

Call It Grief

IN SEARCH OF THE KISSING BUG

Insectario

Austin State Hospital

Pharma Bro

Hunting for the Kissing Bug

The Military's Search

If Tia Had Known

IN SEARCH OF OTHER FAMILIES

Falta

Janet and Her Baby

La Doctora

Candace

Maira

Carlos

Church Basement

The Great Epi Divide

Family History

Soata

My Other Tia

Her Life.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9781951142520

1951142527

OCLC:

1230250011

Publisher Number:

99988073738