Pasteurization of human milk to prevent transmission of Chagas disease.
Although admittedly transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi infection through breastfeeding is a rare event, it involves serious risks. To test the effectiveness of pasteurization in preventing this mode of infection, three sets of samples of human milk were tested: a - contaminated with T. cruzi and pasteurized; b - contaminated with T. cruzi and non-pasteurized; c - non-contaminated and pasteurized. Samples from all sets were orally and intraperitoneally administered to 90 BALB/c mice. The animals inoculated with contaminated, non-pasteurized samples, got the infection. Controls and the animals inoculated with contaminated and pasteurized milk were not infected. The hypothesis was accepted that pasteurization inactivates T. cruzi trypomastigotes.
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Laboratório de Investigação Médica, Parasitologia, LIM/46, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
Martinho
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Amato Neto
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Cruz
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D000818:Animals; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016266:Food Parasitology; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000469:parasitology*; D013242:Sterilization / Q000379:methods*; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000302:isolation & purification