Risk factors for Chagas disease among pregnant women in El Salvador

To determine the seroprevalence of Chagas disease among pregnant women and estimate the risk factors for Chagas disease during pregnancies.

Community-based serological tests on Trypanosoma cruzi and structured interviews on socio-demographic and socio-economic status were conducted with pregnant women registered at three health centres in Sonsonate province, El Salvador.

Of 797 pregnant women participating in the study, 29 (3.6%) were infected with Chagas disease. None had clinical symptoms. The results of bivariate analyses showed the significant association between seropositivity and maternal age ≥35 years, anaemia, illiteracy, having no formal school education and having knowledge on Chagas disease (P < 0.05). The results of multivariate analysis indicate that age ≥35 years and anaemia were significantly associated with being infected with Chagas disease among pregnant women (OR = 3.541 and 5.197, respectively).

We recommend that the national Chagas disease control programme be better coordinated with the national maternal and child health programme to introduce blood screening for T. cruzi during antenatal visits. If financial constraint allows systematic blood screening to be only partially implemented, resources should be focused on pregnant women ≥35 years and women who have anaemia.