Benznidazole linked to sustained parasite clearance in retrospective Chagas disease cohort

A retrospective study in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy evaluated long-term outcomes after benznidazole treatment for Chagas disease at a tertiary center in Argentina between 1980 and 2019. Of 567 treated patients, 464 met selection criteria: 411 children with a median age of 46 months and 53 adults with a median age of 26 years. Response was assessed through clinical, parasitological and serological follow-up, with parasitemia measured by direct visualization or PCR.

Baseline parasitemia was detected in 289 of 445 patients tested (64.94%); 279 of these 289 had parasitological follow-up for at least three years. All patients cleared parasitemia at treatment completion. The 11 children and one adult symptomatic at diagnosis improved after treatment. Median benznidazole doses were 6.6 mg/kg/day in children and 5.6 mg/kg/day in adults, with respective treatment durations of eight weeks and 31 days.

Median serological follow-up was 4.8 years in children and 2.8 years in adults. At one year, 38.8% showed a greater than 20% reduction in antibody titers and 29.8% achieved seronegativity; younger patients converted faster (P<0.01). The authors report sustained parasitemia clearance and findings supporting early treatment. However, the retrospective, predominantly pediatric cohort and absence of an untreated comparison group in the abstract limit causal conclusions. The abstract does not quantify prevention of long-term clinical complications or report adverse events; full text was unavailable for assessment.