Department of Mathematics, Pennsylvania Western University, California, PA, United States of America.
Department of Mathematics, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
PLoS One. 2024 Sep 19;19(9):e0308136. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0308136. eCollection 2024.
Chagas disease, also known as American trypanosomiasis, is caused by a protozoan blood-borne pathogen called Trypanosoma cruzi. The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified Chagas as one of 21 neglected tropical diseases present in the world and estimates that 6-7 million people are currently infected with Chagas. Congenital transmission of Chagas disease contributes to a significant amount of new infections, especially in endemic areas where 22.5% of new infections are due to congenital transmission. In this paper, we investigate congenital transmission's impact on Chagas disease dynamics through a mathematical model. Specifically, we examine how treating a proportion of infants born to infected individuals impacts the progression and spread of Chagas disease. The influence of newborn therapy on the dynamics of the model is thoroughly investigated, both theoretically and numerically. The results illustrate the importance of treating a high proportion of newborns to reduce the number of infected cases of the disease. The findings show that the therapy given to newborns is necessary but not sufficient to curb the transmission of Chagas disease, and a comprehensive approach that includes vector and vertical transmission control strategies is essential for eradicating Chagas disease. We also observed that if vector transmission can be controlled, then at least 55% of the newborns need to be treated to eliminate the disease.
恰加斯病，又称美洲锥虫病，是由一种名为克氏锥虫的原生动物血液病原体引起的。世界卫生组织（WHO）将恰加斯病列为全球 21 种被忽视的热带病之一，并估计目前有 600 万至 700 万人感染恰加斯病。恰加斯病的先天性传播导致了大量新的感染，特别是在流行地区，22.5%的新感染是由于先天性传播。在本文中，我们通过一个数学模型研究了先天性传播对恰加斯病动力学的影响。具体来说，我们研究了治疗感染个体所生婴儿的一定比例如何影响恰加斯病的进展和传播。我们从理论和数值两个方面深入研究了新生儿治疗对模型动态的影响。结果表明，治疗大量新生儿对于减少该病的感染病例数量非常重要。研究结果表明，对新生儿进行治疗对于遏制恰加斯病的传播是必要的，但并不充分，需要采取综合方法，包括控制媒介和垂直传播的策略，才能根除恰加斯病。我们还观察到，如果能够控制媒介传播，那么至少需要治疗 55%的新生儿才能消除该病。
