Myrna VirreiraSabrina Sales MartínezCristina Alonso‐VegaFaustino TorricoMarco SolanoMary Cruz TorricoRudy ParradoCarine TruyensYves CarlierMichal Svoboda2026-03-222026-03-22200610.4269/ajtmh.2006.75.1082https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.2006.75.1082https://andeanlibrary.org/handle/123456789/48172Citaciones: 31Although Trypanosoma cruzi can be transmitted transplacentally and induce congenital infection, no data are available about the presence of this parasite in human amniotic fluid. We examined 8, 19, and 4 amniotic fluid samples (collected at delivery or by aspiration of gastric content of neonates) from control uninfected mothers (M−B−), infected mothers delivering uninfected newborns (M+B−), and mothers of confirmed congenital cases (M+B+), respectively. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), using nuclear and kinetoplastic DNA primers (Tcz1-Tcz2 and 121–122), were negative for all control M−B− samples, but positive for 5 of 19 M+B− and 2 of 4 M+B+ samples. To determine the number of parasites in the positive samples, real-time PCR using S35/S36 kinetoplastic DNA was performed. Only one M+B+ sample presented a high parasitic DNA amount, whereas the other six PCR-positive samples displayed traces of T. cruzi DNA. In conclusion, the release of parasites in amniotic fluid is probably a rare event that cannot be helpful for the routine diagnosis of congenital Chagas disease.enTrypanosoma cruziAmniotic fluidChagas diseaseMedicineVirologyBiologyMicrobiologyarticle