Trypanosoma cruzi (Chagas disease) during pregnancy; congenital Chagas disease

Epidemiology

• ~300,000 people in US with Chagas disease
• ~640 congenital transmissions annually

Management

• pregnant women who have emigrated from Mexico, Central America, & South America who may have been infected with Trypanosoma cruzi should be identified & screened
• if a pregnant woman has chronic Chagas disease, the infant should be tested &, if infected, treated
• if a mother is seropositive, all her children should be tested & treated as needed
• mothers who test positive should be treated after they finish breast-feeding

More general terms

• pregnancy disorder; obstetric disorder; pregnancy complication
• Trypanosoma cruzi (Chagas disease)