A retrospective search for maternal transmission of Chagas infection from patients in the chronic phase

• Published in: Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical Vol. 37; no. 6; p. 485
• Main Authors: Rassi, Anis, Amato Neto, Vicente, Rassi, Gustavo Gabriel, Amato, Valdir Sabbaga, Rassi Júnior, Anis, Luquetti, Alejandro O, Rassi, Sérgio Gabriel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Portuguese
• Published: Brazil Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical 01-11-2004
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Chagas Disease - diagnosis; Chagas Disease - transmission; Child, Preschool; Chronic Disease; Female; Humans; Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; Male; Offspring; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic; Retrospective Studies; Vector-borne diseases
• ISSN: 0037-8682; 1678-9849
• DOI: 10.1590/S0037-86822004000600011

Maternal transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi from 278 children of 145 mothers, chronically infected with this protozoan, to their offspring was investigated. This study was based upon serological tests. In only two cases (2/278 = 0.70%), such mode of transmission was demonstrated to have occurred. However, as according to extant records both patients had also been breast-fed, and the contribution of this factor could not be ruled out. In any case, maternal transmission, an alternative mode of acquiring the infection with Trypanosoma cruzi, was demonstrated. The methodology used is a further contribution to the evaluation of the prevalence of this propagating mechanism of T. cruzi; in addition to those aimed at the main objective of the investigation, records were kept about pregnancy, parturition, puerperium, abortion, prematurity, perinatal deaths and breast-feeding, which might contribute to a better interpretation of the subject.