Congenitally transmitted visceral leishmaniasis: report of two brazilian human cases

• Main Authors: Myrlena Regina Machado Mescouto-Borges, Érika Maués, Dorcas Lamounier Costa, Maria Cristina da Silva Pranchevicius, Gustavo Adolfo Sierra Romero
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2013-04-01
• Series: Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases
• Subjects: Congenital transmission; Visceral leishmaniasis; Leishmania infantum; Pregnancy
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1413-86702013000200024

Visceral leishmaniasis is a relevant public health problem worldwide. Most of the reported cases in Latin America are from Brazil. Herein we report two human cases of congenitally transmitted visceral leishmaniasis in two patients who developed symptoms during pregnancy. The diagnosis was made by visual examination of Leishmania parasites in bone marrow aspirates of the mothers and by detecting parasite kDNA in bone marrow samples of the newborn children using polymerase chain reaction.