Abstract
We describe the eleventh major outbreak of foodborne Trypanosoma cruzi transmission in urban Venezuela, including evidence for vertical transmission from the index case to her fetus. After confirming fetal death at 24 weeks of gestation, pregnancy interruption was performed. On direct examination of the amniotic fluid, trypomastigotes were detected. T. cruzi specific-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) also proved positive when examining autopsied fetal organs. Finally, microscopic fetal heart examination revealed amastigote nests. Acute orally transmitted Chagas disease can be life threatening or even fatal for pregnant women and unborn fetuses owing to vertical transmission. There is therefore an urgent need to improve national epidemiologic control measures.
License
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Citation
@article{AlarconDeNoya2017Chagas,
author = {Belkisyolé Alarcón de Noya and Gladymar Pérez-Chacón and Zoraida Díaz-Bello and Sonia Dickson and Arturo Muñoz-Calderón and Carlos Hernández and Yadira Pérez and Luciano Mauriello and Eyleen Moronta},
title = {Description of an oral Chagas disease outbreak in Venezuela, including a vertically transmitted case},
journal = {Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz},
volume = {112},
number = {8},
pages = {569--571},
year = {2017},
doi = {10.1590/0074-02760170402},
url = {https://www.scielo.br/j/mioc/a/sGqbvMyVLg5DW4WXsyFZGvC/?lang=en}
}