The investigation of congenital infection by Trypanosoma cruzi in an endemic area of Chile: three protocols explored in a pilot project

Abstract

Given the increasing travel of pregnant women from areas were Trypanosoma cruzi is endemic, the congenital transmission of the parasite has become a global public‐health problem. In a recent pilot study, which ran in Chile from 2006 to 2010, three strategies for exploring and managing T. cruzi‐infected mothers and their infected or uninfected neonates were investigated. Any protocols applied to the investigation of such mother‐and‐child pairs need to include the detection of infection in pregnant women, the detection of infection, if any, in the children born to the women, the appropriate treatment of the infected neonates, and the serological–parasitological follow‐up of all of the neonates until their medical discharge.

The authors give special thanks to the health teams of the hospitals of the Choapa province (Servicio de Salud Coquimbo, IV Región) and the health departments of the municipalities of Canela, Los Vilos, Salamanca and Illapel. The research was supported financially by the Chilean Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (Fondecyt), as projects 1080445, 1100768 and DI‐Sal 05/17‐2.