Diagnosis of congenital Trypanosoma cruzi infection: A serologic test using Shed Acute Phase Antigen (SAPA) in mother-child binomial samples

- SAPA serology detects the Trypanosoma cruzi infection in mother-child binomial samples.
- Anti-SAPA antibodies titers in serum samples correlated with T. cruzi parasitic load.
- 90% of T. cruzi infected children had higher anti-SAPA titers than their mothers.
- This simple diagnosis strategy can be easily applied in endemic areas for Chagas disease.