Congenital Chagas disease in Mexico: a systematic review of gaps in diagnosis and clinical follow-up
Transactions of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene·
- DOI
- 10.1093/trstmh/trag097
- PMID
- —
- PMCID
- —
- OpenAlex
- —
- Study type
- Systematic review
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Article type
- journal-article
- Integrity
- current
Why this research matters now
The disconnect between maternal detection and neonatal treatment reveals a fractured care chain for congenital Chagas disease in Mexico. The authors identify urgent need for universal prenatal screening and standardized molecular diagnostics at birth to fulfill Pan American Health Organization Elimination Initiative commitments.
Structured evidence summary
Research question
The review examined available evidence on maternal Trypanosoma cruzi infection, vertical transmission rates, and diagnostic challenges for congenital Chagas disease in Mexico.
Study design
A systematic review following PRISMA guidelines searched PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science for original observational studies and case reports on maternal-fetal T. cruzi infection in Mexico. Seventeen studies covering 63,373 samples from 1998 to 2021 met inclusion criteria.
Population and setting
The review included pregnant women and neonates in Mexico, with evidence geographically concentrated in Yucatan (41.2% of studies), Chiapas, and Veracruz.
Main findings
Maternal seroprevalence was reported in 82.4% of studies with a national estimate of 2.21%, but only 41.2% documented confirmed congenital transmission. Critical care gaps emerged: only 29.4% of studies reported neonatal monitoring and just 5.9% explicitly documented antiparasitic treatment. Diagnostic heterogeneity was high, with 88.2% using ELISA and 52.9% using PCR.
Public-health relevance
The disconnect between maternal detection and neonatal treatment reveals a fractured care chain for congenital Chagas disease in Mexico. The authors identify urgent need for universal prenatal screening and standardized molecular diagnostics at birth to fulfill Pan American Health Organization Elimination Initiative commitments.
Important limitations
Evidence on congenital Chagas in Mexico is fragmented and geographically biased. This summary relies on the supplied single-article abstract and metadata; access to the full systematic review is required for decision-grade interpretation of methodological quality, search strategy completeness, and risk-of-bias assessment.
GIDS interpretation
This systematic review would support literature searches or background context for congenital Chagas disease, particularly regarding diagnostic practices and care continuity in Mexico. It provides no primary surveillance data and does not confirm or investigate any active disease signal.
Related GIDS surveillance
Literature context does not validate, explain, or change a surveillance signal. Exact and contextual relationships are shown separately.
Evidence relationships
This article has 9 auditable classifier relationships to diseases, places, topics, and study design.