title: Treatment of Infected Women of Childbearing Age Prevents Congenital Trypanosoma cruzi Infection by Eliminating the Parasitemia Detected by PCR.
abstract: We evaluated the effectiveness of treating women of childbearing age with benznidazole to prevent congenital Chagas disease (CCD), as well as the usefulness of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as a tool to predict the risk of transmission.
  
  
  
  Prospective study involving 144 T. cruzi seropositive pregnant women. The parasitological status was studied by PCR in 159 pregnancies, 38 of which involved a cohort of previously treated mothers. One hundred sixty children were examined by PCR and serologically studied at 0-6, 9 and 12 months and annually after treatment.
  
  
  
  PCR was seen to be useful for predicting the risk of congenital transmission: 18.8% of mothers with a positive PCR result transmitted the infection (16 infected children out of 85 pregnancies). No infected infants were detected among 74 pregnancies when PCR was negative. Of the treated mothers, 92.1% had negative PCR results, compared with 32.2% of untreated mothers. No infected infants were detected from previously treated mothers, compared with 13.2% among untreated mothers (P = .019; χ2). All infants treated before the first year of life were cured.
  
  
  
  Treating infected women of childbearing age prevents congenital Chagas disease. Polymerase chain reaction screening of T. cruzi-infected pregnant women is a useful tool for predicting the risk of congenital transmission.
authors.affiliation: Unidad Regional de Medicina Tropical, Servicio de Microbiología, Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca, El Palmar, and.|Departamento de Genética y Microbiología, Universidad de Murcia, Espinardo Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Murcia
authors.affiliation: Unidad Regional de Medicina Tropical, Servicio de Microbiología, Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca,El Palmar, and.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Simón
authors.affiliation: Unidad Regional de Medicina Tropical, Servicio de Microbiología, Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca,El Palmar, and.
authors.forename: Bartolomé
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Carrilero
authors.affiliation: Unidad Regional de Medicina Tropical, Servicio de Microbiología, Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca,El Palmar, and.
authors.forename: Mercedes
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Roig
authors.affiliation: Unidad Regional de Medicina Tropical, Servicio de Microbiología, Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca, El Palmar, and.|Departamento de Genética y Microbiología, Universidad de Murcia, Espinardo Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Segovia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019072:Antibiotic Prophylaxis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000151:congenital* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009593:Nitroimidazoles / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018512:Parasitemia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011247:Pregnancy; D015597:Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014344:Trypanocidal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D009593:Nitroimidazoles; D014344:Trypanocidal Agents; C009999:benzonidazole
keywords: Chagas; PCR; Trypanosoma cruzi.; congenital; prevention; treatment