Congenital Transmission of Chagas Disease in Latin American Immigrants in Switzerland

Selective testing for Trypanosoma cruzi: the first year after implementation at Canadian Blood Services

“…Beginning in February 2009 all donors were asked the following questions on the self‐administered part of the donor history questionnaire (DHQ):

Have you spent a total of 6 months or more in a continuous period in Mexico, Central America, or South America?Were you born in Mexico, Central America, or South America?Was your mother or grandmother born in Mexico, Central America, or South America?

The last question was designed to capture the risk of vertical transmission and donors answering “yes” were further questioned to determine if the maternal grandmother had been born in a risk country. All donors assessed as having risk were flagged in the computer database so that even if the donor failed to acknowledge risk on a subsequent donation, she or he would still be considered as having risk.…”

Comparison of the Bacterial Gut Microbiome of North American Triatoma spp. With and Without Trypanosoma cruzi

“…Caused by the hemoflagellate protist Trypanosoma cruzi, the principal method of transmission is via the infective feces of hematophagous triatomine insect vectors within the family Reduviidae, with a fewer number of cases transmitted congenitally, through blood transfusion, organ transplantation, and direct ingestion (Kjos et al, 2008;Bern et al, 2011;Picado et al, 2018). While the majority of T. cruzi infection cases occur in Latin America, there has been a rise in reports of Chagas disease in the United States and Europe (Lescure et al, 2008;Bern and Montgomery, 2009;Jackson et al, 2009;Pérez de Ayala et al, 2009;Bern et al, 2011;Pérez-Ayala et al, 2011). In the United States, eleven triatomine species have been identified.…”

Metabolic, mental health, behavioural and socioeconomic characteristics of migrants with Chagas disease in a non‐endemic country

“…Millions of people have left endemic countries towards North America, Western Pacific Region and Europe, which harbors 3 millions migrants at risk of carrying Chagas disease (Gascon et al 2009). Consequently, imported cases and transmission of Chagas disease have been increasingly reported in Western Europe where more than 80 000 Latin American migrants are infected (Jackson et al 2009a,b, 2010a,b; WHO 2009). Migrants with Chagas disease in Europe are predominantly women of child‐bearing age, with 11.3–22.5% already affected by T. cruzi cardiopathy (Munoz et al 2009; Jackson et al 2009a,b, 2010a,b; Perez‐Ayala et al 2011).…”