Abstract

Purpose of Review Why around 5% ofTrypanosoma cruzi-infected pregnant women transmit the parasite to their offspring whereas 95% do not? Answers to this main question are needed in order to improve the programs aiming to control or eliminate congenital Chagas disease (CCD), which has become an important global public health problem. Recent Findings Turnover of syncitiotrophoblast as a new innate defense mechanism of placenta and analyses of transcriptomic responses of placental genes and of new parasite DNA sequences have allowed a re-evaluation of the relationship between parasite diversity, placental tropism, and CCD transmission. A synthetic view of the gradual interactions between the human placenta facing up the parasites present in the maternal blood and the occurrence and severity of CCD is proposed. Further researches on the role of parasite molecular diversity, maternal microbiomes, transfers of parasite and placenta exovesicles, and genetic features of infected mothers should improve our understanding of such maternal-fetal complex relationship.