Antibody drop in newborns congenitally infected by Trypanosoma cruzi treated with benznidazole

OBJECTIVE To compare the drop of Chagas antibody titres between non-infected and congenitally infected newborns treated by two doses of benznidazole, aiming at evaluating the recovery time and giving recommendations regarding serological criteria of recovery. METHODS During a clinical trial, the drop of Trypanosoma cruzi antibody titres measured by ELISA tests was followed during the first year of life in congenitally infected newborns treated with different doses of benznidazole and compared to T. cruzi antibody titres in non-parasitaemic newborns. Confirmation of recovery was given by two negative serological tests: Chagas Stat-Pak (R) (CSP) (immunochromatography) and Chagatest (R) v3.0 (ELISA). RESULTS In non-parasitaemic infants of infected mothers, antibodies of maternal origin disappeared in <8 months while in infected infants, T. cruzi antibodies decreased more slowly and disappeared in 9-16 months allowing to confirm the recovery. All CSP tests were negative before the ninth month while about 10% of ELISA tests remained positive at the 12th month. CONCLUSIONS Recovery may be confirmed in most cases at 10 months. The CSP test was compared to Chagatest (R) v3.0 ELISA and appeared to give a reliable response. The decrease rate of antibodies does not depend on treatment modes.