| The unknown risk of vertical transmission in sleeping sickness--a literature review. | |
| | |
MedLine Citation:
|
PMID: 21200416 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
|
BACKGROUND: Children with human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) present with a range of generally non-specific symptoms. Late diagnosis is frequent with often tragic outcomes. Trypanosomes can infect the foetus by crossing the placenta. Unequivocal cases of congenital infection that have been reported include newborn babies of infected mothers who were diagnosed with HAT in the first 5 days of life and children of infected mothers who had never entered an endemic country themselves. METHODS: This review systematically summarizes the literature on the vertical transmission of HAT, to our knowledge for the first time. To approach the broader aspects of the subject, articles considering the epidemiology of childhood HAT and HAT in pregnancy were also included. The HAT guidelines and technical reports of the World Health Organisation, Médecins Sans Frontières, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, and of one endemic country were reviewed. RESULTS: Publications describing congenital HAT are very limited and consist only of single case reports and small case series. Generally it is assumed to be a rare event, but it has never been systematically investigated. In two publications, it is hypothesized that congenital HAT occurs more often than suspected. Not all guidelines and not all HAT literature mention this transmission route. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of vertical transmission is unknown. Awareness of congenital HAT is insufficient, and as a result opportunities for an early diagnosis in newborns may be missed. All HAT guidelines and local HAT protocols should stress that in endemic areas pregnant women should be systematically checked for HAT and that newborns of HAT infected mothers should be assessed for the disease as soon as possible. Studies on the impact of HAT on fertility and pregnancy and studies on congenital HAT are long overdue. |
| | |
Authors:
|
Andreas K Lindner; Gerardo Priotto |
Related Documents
:
|
20627816 - The diagnostic utility of the ictal cry. 16127306 - The safety of electroconvulsive therapy and lithium in combination: a case series and r... 9337936 - The association of cavernous and venous angioma. case report and review of the literature. 8073916 - Epilepsy in congenital lipodystrophy. case report. 10867796 - Constant involvement of the betz cells and pyramidal tract in multiple system atrophy: ... 19383256 - Primary small cell carcinoma of the kidney with tumour thrombus extension into the infe... |
Publication Detail:
|
Type: Journal Article; Review Date: 2010-12-21 |
Journal Detail:
|
Title: PLoS neglected tropical diseases Volume: 4 ISSN: 1935-2735 ISO Abbreviation: PLoS Negl Trop Dis Publication Date: 2010 |
Date Detail:
|
Created Date: 2011-01-04 Completed Date: 2011-03-15 Revised Date: 2011-07-20 |
Medline Journal Info:
|
Nlm Unique ID: 101291488 Medline TA: PLoS Negl Trop Dis Country: United States |
Other Details:
|
Languages: eng Pagination: e783 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
|
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom. A.K.Lindner@gmx.de |
Export Citation:
|
APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex |
| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
|
Female Humans Infant, Newborn Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical* Pregnancy Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / epidemiology*, parasitology* Trypanosomiasis, African / congenital*, epidemiology, transmission* |
| Comments/Corrections | |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
Previous Document: Kinetics of rhodopsin deactivation and its role in regulating recovery and reproducibility of rod ph...
Next Document: Revisiting the immune trypanolysis test to optimise epidemiological surveillance and control of slee...