Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Hakim, Jill M C
• Waltmann, Andreea
• Tinajeros, Freddy
• Kharabora, Oksana
• Machaca, Edith Málaga
• Calderon, Maritza
• del Carmen Menduiña, María
• Wang, Jeremy
• Rueda, Daniel
• Zimic, Mirko
• Verástegui, Manuela
• Juliano, Jonathan J
• Gilman, Robert H
• Mugnier, Monica R
• Bowman, Natalie M

Titel

Amplicon Sequencing Reveals Complex Infection in Infants Congenitally Infected With Trypanosoma Cruzi and Informs the Dynamics of Parasite Transmission

Ist Teil von

• The Journal of infectious diseases, 2023-09, Vol.228 (6), p.769-776

Ort / Verlag

United States: Oxford University Press

Erscheinungsjahr

2023

Quelle

Oxford Journals 2020 Medicine

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Abstract Congenital transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi is an important source of new Chagas infections worldwide. The mechanisms of congenital transmission remain poorly understood, but there is evidence that parasite factors are involved. Investigating changes in parasite strain diversity during transmission could provide insight into the parasite factors that influence the process. Here we use amplicon sequencing of a single copy T. cruzi gene to evaluate the diversity of infection in clinical samples from Chagas positive mothers and their infected infants. Several infants and mothers were infected with multiple parasite strains, mostly of the same TcV lineage, and parasite strain diversity was higher in infants than mothers. Two parasite haplotypes were detected exclusively in infant samples, while one haplotype was never found in infants. Together, these data suggest multiple parasites initiate a congenital infection and that parasite factors influence the probability of vertical transmission. Amplicon sequencing of congenital chagas infection reveals complex infection in infants, suggesting that congenital infection is the result of multiple inoculating parasite clones.