Pasteurization of human milk to prevent transmission of Chagas disease

C S Ferreira1, P C Martinho, V Amato Neto

  • 1Laboratório de Investigação Médica, Parasitologia, LIM/46, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, SP, Brasil.

Although admittedly transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi infection through breastfeeding is a rare event, it involves serious risks. To test the effectiveness of pasteurization in preventing this mode of infection, three sets of samples of human milk were tested: a - contaminated with T. cruzi and pasteurized; b - contaminated with T. cruzi and non-pasteurized; c - non-contaminated and pasteurized. Samples from all sets were orally and intraperitoneally administered to 90 BALB/c mice. The animals inoculated with contaminated, non-pasteurized samples, got the infection. Controls and the animals inoculated with contaminated and pasteurized milk were not infected. The hypothesis was accepted that pasteurization inactivates T. cruzi trypomastigotes.

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