Diagnóstico de enfermedad de Chagas en maternas y recién nacidos de Moniquirá y Miraflores, Boyacá, Colombia

Objective: To study Trypanosoma cruzi infection and transplacental transmission in pregnant women in Moniquira and Miraflores in Boyacá, Colombia. Material and Methods: Screening of 862 mothers (600 to 950) in both municipalities, reaching a total of 702 participants from whom 659 samples were processed (358 from Moniquira and 301 from Miraflores). This screening used Elisa techniques with filter paper, and the positives were confirmed with ELISA in serum, IIF, blood cultures and PCR. Results: The current prevalence of Chagas disease in mothers is 3.34% (22/659), 3.99% (12/301) in Miraflores and 2.79% (10/358) in Moniquira. Of the 22 mothers who were followed, data was obtained from 18 of their newborns, 6 of whom had positive blood culture tests. Blood cultures were considered the confirmatory technique for parasitemia in newborns before 8 months; therefore, the overall transplacental incidence was 27.27% positive newborns per year (6/22). After following-up at the homes and peridomiciles, searching for triatominae and fumigating the homes, we began treatment for the newborns with benznidazole at a rate of 5-8 mg/kg/day for 60 days. Conclusions: The prevalence rate found in mothers was greater than the prevalence rates reported for Chile and Brazil but lower than those for Bolivia, Argentina and Uruguay. The transplacental incidence found after 1 year of follow-up was similar to that reported in Chile (16%-28%) and higher than those of Brazil (1%), Uruguay (0.5%-3%), Bolivia (7%) and Paraguay (7%).