Abstract

MANRIQUE-ABRIL, Fred et al. Diagnosis of Chagas disease in Pregnant Women and Newborns in Moniquirá and Mira-Florez, Boyacá, Colombia. Infect. [online]. 2013, vol.17, n.1, pp.28-34. ISSN 0123-9392.

Objective: To study Trypanosoma cruzi infection in pregnant women and its transplacental transmission in Moniquira and Miraflores, Boyaca, Colombia. Materials and methods: Screening of 862 pregnant women in both municipalities was planned; 689 participants were screened by Elisa technique on blood samples drawn on filter paper from whom 659 samples were processed (358 from Moniquira and 301 from Miraflores). Elisa and IFAT in serum, blood cultures and PCR were carried out in positive pregnant women and their children. Results: The total prevalence of Chagas disease in pregnant women was 3.3% (22/659), 3.9% (12/301) in Miraflores and 2.7% (10/358) in Moniquira. Of the 22 pregnant women who were followed, data was obtained from 18 of their newborns, 6 of whom had positive blood culture tests. Blood cultures were considered as the confirmatory technique for parasitemia in newborns before 8 months of age. Therefore, the overall rate of transmission of congenital infection was 33.3% (6/18). After following-up at the homes and peridomiciles, searching for triatomine bugs and spraying the homes, we began treatment for the infected newborns with benznidazole at a dose of 5-8 mg/kg/day for 60 days. Conclusions: The prevalence found in pregnant women was similar to that reported for Casanare. The rate of transmission of congenital infection was similar to that reported in Chile (16%-28%) and higher than those in Brazil (1%), Argentina (1.5%-4.5%), Uruguay (0.5%-3%), Bolivia (7%) and Paraguay (7%).

Keywords : Chagas disease; Trypanosoma cruzi; Transmisión transplacentaria; Colombia.

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