[Prepatency, parasitemia and histological lesions in mice infected with two Trypanosoma cruzi populations isolated in Chile].

Background: The great variability in the clinical presentation of Chagas disease may depend in part in the genetic variability of Trypanosoma cruzi populations.

Aim: To compare prepatent period, parasitemia, mortality and histological lesions in mice infected with two populations of Trypanosoma cruzi isolated in Chile.

Material And Methods: Two Trypanosoma cruzi populations, isolated from Chilean Triatomides and genetically characterized by kinetoplast restriction fragment DNA profiles, were compared.