Infección materna y transmisión transplacentaria del Trypanosoma cruzi en Chile: diagnóstico, tratamiento y control / Trypanosoma cruzi transplacental infection in Chile: diagnosis, treatment and control

Trypanosoma cruzi transplacental infection represents a serious public health concern in all the countries like Chile where recent success of insecticide spraying programs eliminated the vector. Because children infected with T. cruzi are usually asymptomatic, a study was designed including infected mothers and their children. The study was conducted for three years to establish diagnostic, treatment, and clinical observations variables. Mothers were tested for T. cruzi IgG, and the new born were examined for parasite DNA using PCR amplification. They were treated with nifurtimox and it was 100% effective, confirmed by successive PCR tests. It has been determined that there are 800 to 1000 new cases a year of transplacental Chagas' disease in Chile. This level of infection in the population should justify the establishment of a control and follow-up program for transplacental Chagas' disease.

Larva migrans visceral en ninos. / Visceral larva migrans in children

Se estudiaron clinicamente y mediante examenes de laboratorio 42 ninos infectados por Toxocara sp. La edad promedio de los casos fue de 4 anos 2 meses +/- 3 anos 5 meses. Habia geofagia en 97,6%, grados variables de compromiso pulmonar en 64,3% y hepatomegalia en 59,5% de los pacientes.El fondo de ojos tenia alteraciones en 4,8% de los pacientes. En el hemograma la concentracion de hemoglobina promedio fue de 11,0 g/dl, el recuento de leucocitos promedio 19.213 x mm3 y el de eosinofilos 8.918,9 x mm3. 84,86% de los ninos presentaron niveles de isohemaglutininas > o igual 1:64 y 95,2% titulos de ELISA para Toxocara superiores a esta dilucion. El tratamiento con tiabendazol fue bien tolerado en 83,3% y efectivo en 70,8% de los ninos. En 29,2% se observo mejoria parcial clinica y de laboratorio