Table 1.
Frequency of congenital transmission to offspring from female hamsters infected intradermally with 104 promastigotes of Leishmania panamensis*
| Group | No. positive offspring/no. evaluated (%) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Culture | PCR† | P‡ | |
| CHR-offspring | 1/30 (3.3) | 11/60 (18.3)§ | 0.045 |
| AC-offspring¶ | 0/70 (0) | 13/33 (39.4) | |
| Total | 1/140 (0.7) | 24/93 (25.8) | |
Offspring were born to females in the chronic phase of the infection (CHR-offspring) or born to females infected during pregnancy (AC-offspring). PCR = polymerase chain reaction.
CHR-offspring were evaluated by PCR–hybridization or real-time PCR.
P value of Fisher's exact test, congenital cases in CHR-offspring versus AC-offspring.
Seven (23.3%) of 30 were positive by conventional PCR–hybridization and 4 (13.3%) of 30 were positive by real- time PCR.
The gestational period of hamsters is 16–18 days; weaning took place 21 days after birth. Hamsters were evaluated between one and two months after birth by real-time PCR.