Congenital transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi in Argentina, Honduras, and Mexico: study protocol

Compared with South America, there is a lack of epidemiologic studies about the risk of congenital transmission of in Central America and Mexico. It has been suggested that genotypes might differ by region and that congenital transmission might vary according to the parasite's genotype. Our objective was to compare congenital transmission rates in three countries. We performed an observational prospective study in 2011-2014 enrolling women at delivery in one hospital in Argentina, two hospitals in Honduras, and two hospitals in Mexico. Congenital infection was defined as the presence of one or more of the following criteria: presence of parasites in cord blood (direct parasitological microscopic examination) with positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in cord blood, presence of parasites in infant's blood at 4-8 weeks (direct parasitological microscopic examination), and persistence of -specific antibodies at 10 months, as measured by at least two tests. Among 28,145 enrolled women, 347 had at least one antibody rapid test positive in cord blood and a positive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in maternal blood. PCR in maternal blood was positive in 73.2% of the cases, and genotyping identified a majority of non-TcI in the three countries. We found no (0.0%; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.0, 2.0) confirmed congenital case in Honduras. Congenital transmission was 6.6% (95% CI: 3.1, 12.2) in Argentina and 6.3% (95% CI: 0.8, 20.8) in Mexico. non-TcI predominated and risks of congenital transmission were similar in Argentina and Mexico.

show abstract

“…The protocol was previously published, 20 and the study was registered in ClinicalTrials.gov: Identifier NCT01787968.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…All molecular analyses, except sequencing, were performed in Brussels, Belgium, and were conducted under strict quality control. The molecular methods that were not detailed in the published protocol 20 are included in the Supplemental Material (appendix).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Congenital Transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi in Argentina, Honduras, and Mexico: An Observational Prospective Study

Buekens

Cafferata²,

Alger³

et al. 2018

The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Discrepancies were resolved by an independent blinded trained evaluator. This is similar to the approach we used earlier for Chagas RDTs (Buekens et al, 2013;Buekens et al, 2018).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 67%

Using prenatal blood samples to validate COVID-19 rapid serologic tests

Alger

Cafferata

Alvarado³

et al. 2020

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

IntroductionBackground cross-reactivity with other coronaviruses may reduce the specificity of COVID-19 rapid serologic tests. Blood collected during prenatal care is a unique source of population-based samples appropriate for validation studies. We used stored 2018 serum samples from an existing pregnancy cohort study to evaluate the specificity of COVID-19 serologic rapid diagnostic tests. MethodsWe randomly selected 120 stored serum samples from pregnant women enrolled in a cohort in 2018, at least one year before the COVID-19 pandemic. We used stored serum to evaluate four lateral flow rapid diagnostic tests, following manufacturers’ instructions. Pictures were taken for all tests and read by two blinded trained evaluators. Results We evaluated 120, 80, 90, and 90 samples, respectively. Specificity for both IgM and IgG was 100% for the first two tests. The third test had a specificity of 98.9% for IgM and 94.4% for IgG. The fourth test had a specificity of 88.9% for IgM and 100% for IgG.Discussion COVID-19 serologic rapid tests are of variable specificity. Blood specimens from sentinel prenatal clinics provide an opportunity to validate serologic tests with population-based samples.

show abstract

“…The maternity is the referral ward of northwest Argentina and has around 9000 deliveries per year. This study was nested within a study designed to detect the rate of congenital T. cruzi transmission in a cohort of seropositive women [ 21 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Text message interventions for follow up of infants born to mothers positive for Chagas disease in Tucumán, Argentina: a feasibility study

Cormick

Ciganda²,

Cafferata³

et al. 2015

BMC Res Notes

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundDiagnosis of congenital Chagas disease occurs at 9 months of age, making effective treatment challenging due to loss to follow-up. Mobile health (mHealth) has been utilized to improve communication and treatment adherence in many chronic diseases, although no studies of mHealth in Trypanosoma cruzi-infected individuals have been conducted. Text message interventions, a subset of mHealth, has shown to improve appointment attendance and is relatively simple to set up, thus making it an ideal mechanism to facilitate communication with individuals in low-resource settings.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to understand the acceptability, utilization, and barriers of an SMS-based appointment reminder to confirm a post-partum home visit to women in Tucumán, Argentina and whether these factors differ in urban and rural populations.MethodsWomen that tested positive for Chagas disease were invited to receive SMS reminders of their follow-up 4-week postpartum home visit. Demographic information and SMS contact preferences were collected at hospital discharge, and variables on mHealth utilization and barriers were recorded at follow-up.Results77 (70.6 %) of women possessed a cell phone for personal use. All eligible women owned phones compatible with SMS messages. The appointment reminder SMS was widely accepted with 64/72 (88.9 %) enrolled women receiving the SMS message and 58/64 (90.6 %) replying. Ninety-two percent of women stated that the text message was a useful reminder for the follow-up home visit. Women living in rural areas were less likely to own a cell phone for personal use and were significantly less likely to have internet access on their phone than women living in urban areas (RR 0.30, 95 % CI 0.10–0.89). Furthermore, women from rural areas faced barriers to mHealth uptake such as change of phone number and response to messages from the hospital team at higher rates than women from urban areas, although these differences were not statistically significant.ConclusionsThere is generally widespread acceptance and utilization of mHealth among this group of women with access to cell phones. However, there are still many barriers to overcome before mHealth interventions attain complete penetration in a population, most notably the issue of cell phone for personal use.

show abstract

Congenital transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi in Argentina, Honduras, and Mexico: study protocol

Cited by 18 publications

References 33 publications

Congenital Transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi in Argentina, Honduras, and Mexico: An Observational Prospective Study

Congenital Transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi in Argentina, Honduras, and Mexico: An Observational Prospective Study

Using prenatal blood samples to validate COVID-19 rapid serologic tests

Text message interventions for follow up of infants born to mothers positive for Chagas disease in Tucumán, Argentina: a feasibility study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About