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Use of a Rapid Test on Umbilical Cord Blood to Screen for Trypanosoma cruzi Infection in Pregnant Women in Argentina, Bolivia, Honduras, and México

2008; American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; Volume: 79; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.4269/ajtmh.2008.79.755

1476-1645

Sergio Sosa‐Estáni, Rubí Gamboa‐León, Jaime del Cid-Lemus, Fernando Althabe, Jackeline Alger, Olivia Almendares, María Luisa Cafferata, Jean‐Philippe Chippaux, Eric Dumonteil, Luz Gibbons, Nicolás Padilla-Raygoza, Dominique Schneider, José M. Belizán, Pierre Buekens, NULL AUTHOR_ID,

Trypanosoma species research and implications

We conducted a cross-sectional study of Chagas disease in five endemic areas in Argentina, Bolivia, Honduras, and México to estimate the prevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi-specific antibodies in pregnant women, and to assess the use of a rapid test (Chagas Stat-Pak) to screen for T. cruzi infection at the time of delivery. The prevalence of antibodies to T. cruzi measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in maternal blood was 5.5% (a range of 0.8-28.8% among the countries) in 2,495 women enrolled. Compared with ELISA in maternal blood samples, the Chagas Stat-Pak rapid test sensitivity and specificity in umbilical cord blood were 94.6% and 99.0%, respectively. These results show the ability for a rapid determination of the presence of T. cruzi-specific antibodies in umbilical cord blood as a pragmatic strategy to screen for infection in pregnant women.