Introduction
Chagas disease (CD) or American Trypanosomiasis is a major public health
problem in Latin America, where the disease burden is nearly 8-times
greater than that due to malaria.1 Almost 6 million
people are infected worldwide.2 CD is caused by
infection with the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi (T.
cruzi ). In endemic countries, T. cruzi is predominantly
transmitted vectorially via the faeces of blood-sucking triatomine
insects, also known as “kissing or assassin bugs”. In non-endemic
countries, infection may occur through blood transfusion, solid organ
transplant or during pregnancy. Congenital Chagas disease (cCD) occurs
in approximately 5% of chronically infected pregnant
women.3 Chagas disease is emerging in Europe due to
migration patterns.3, 4 We report the first cases of
cCD in Ireland and the United Kingdom (UK).