Chagas’ disease is an emerging public health problem in areas where the disease is not endemic. Treatment with benznidazole has shown efficacy in the acute stage of the disease, but its efficacy in the chronic stage remains controversial, and unwanted side effects are more frequent and severe in adults than in children. This study describes the profile of side effects of benznidazole in a cohort of Trypanosoma cruzi -infected patients in a European country.

The extent of cryptic leishmaniasis in blood donors from a Spanish endemic area, (Eivissa Island) was studied using various immunological and parasitological methods. Sera from 656 blood donors were analysed: 16 (2.4%) were positive by ELISA and 50 (7.6%) by Western blot. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and buffy coat (BC) samples, were analyzed by culture and nested-PCR. DNA of L. infantum was amplified in 27 (22.1%) of 122 PBMC. Parasites were isolated in 3 (4.5%) of 67 BC cultures and the strains were identified as L. infantum zymodeme MON-28. No parasites were isolated in PBMC culture. After 12 months, a second blood sample was obtained from 18 blood donors who were positive by nested-PCR in the first extraction; nine of them remained positive. Delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) tests on 15/67 donors (22.3%) were positive. Comparison of results obtained by ELISA, WB and DTH; ELISA, WB and nested-PCR and nested-PCR and BC culture showed a significant association (Pearson test, P < 0.05). L. infantum zyodeme MON-28 was identified in three strains isolated from asymptomatic donors, which suggests a low virulence capacity of these strains. The detection of Leishmania DNA in a high number of asymptomatic subjects supports the need to monitor it in blood donors endemic areas.

We performed a prospective screening for Trypanosoma cruzi infection in 1350 Latin American pregnant women and their offspring in Barcelona, Spain. T