Incidence of Trypanosoma cruzi transmission through breastfeeding during acute experimental Chagas disease

Abstract

Objective: To verify the incidence of T. cruzi transmission through breastfeeding during acute experimental Chagas’ disease. Methods: Fifteen female Swiss mice were mated and, after pregnancy confirmation, placed in individual cages. A few hours after birth, the females were inoculated with 0.1 mL of blood containing approximately 3 × 105 trypomastigote forms of Y strain of T. cruzi and continued breastfeeding for 25 days. Results: In 142 offspring examined no infection through breastfeeding was observed. Conclusions: The low number of trypomastigote forms ingested by the newborn mice combined with biological and biochemical characteristics of blood trypomastigotes may explain the lack of transmission in this experiment. Keywords: Trypanosoma cruzi, foods for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, Chagas disease