Screening and Management of Children at Risk for Chagas Disease in Nonendemic Areas.

C disease bears the highest burden among parasitic diseases in the Western Hemisphere and generates considerable health-related costs. Considered as a neglected tropical disease by the World Health Organization, it is caused by the infection with the protozoa Trypanosoma cruzi. Transmission is mainly vector-borne through the inoculation of infected reduviidae bugs feces, but it can also be acquired vertically, which remains the predominant route outside endemic areas. In Europe and other nonendemic countries, the number of imported cases is rapidly increasing due to the migration of large populations at risk. Whereas most reported cases concern adults at the chronic stage, congenital and pediatric cases are poorly identified and reported due to the frequent lack of systematic screening programs in countries at risk. Infected newborns and children bear risks of long-term and potentially life-threatening complications.