Seropositivity for anti-Trypanosoma cruzi antibodies among blood donors of the "Hospital Universitário Regional do Norte do Paraná", Londrina, Brazil Soropositividade para anticorpos anti-Tiypanosoma cruzi em doadores de sangue do Hospital Universitário Regional do Norte do Paraná, Londrina, Brasil

• Published in: Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo
• Main Authors: Edna Maria Vissoci Reiche, Marta Mutsumi Zaha Inouye, Rubens Pontello, Helena Kaminami Morimoto, Shiduca Itow Jankevicius, Tiemi Matsuo, José Vitor Jankevicius
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade de São Paulo (USP) 1996
• Subjects: Blood donors; Chagas' disease; Trypanosoma cruzi; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/S0036-46651996000300014; https://doaj.org/article/ebf9ced0a4f04bd7b61206eed41f3cda

The most frequent form of acquisition of Chagas' disease in endemic areas was the transmission through the feces of contaminated triatominae. However, special attention should be paid in urban areas to transmission by blood transfusion, justifying the compulsory screening of blood donors. Early investigations at blood banks in the town of Londrina, Brazil, demonstrated that the seroprevalence of anti-Trypanosoma cruzi antibodies among blood donors was approximately 7.0% in the fifties9,34. Further studies demonstrated pratically the same seroprevalence until the eighties4,32,41. In an attempt to obtain data about the real dimension of the seropositivity for anti-Trypasonoma cruzi antibodies in the region, the authors carried out a large-scale study on 45,774 serum samples from blood donors of the Hemocentro of Hospital Universitário Regional do Norte do Paraná (HURNP), Universidade Estadual de Londrina. The immunological tests were done at the Division of Clinical Immunology of HURNP from May 1990 to December 1994. The serum samples were studied by the indirect hemagglutination assay (IHA, using kits commercially obtained from EBRAM) and by indirect immunofluorescence (IFI, using kits from LIO SERUM) with anti-human IgG conjugate (LABORCLIN). The results demonstrated that 643 serum samples were positive in both assay corresponding to a seroprevalence of 1.4%, i.e., a significant decrease in anti-Trypanosoma cruzi antibodies in the region in comparison with the previously mentioned rates. Data correlating sex and age of seropositive blood donors are presented, as well as the possible factors that may have contributed to the results observed. A forma de aquisição mais freqüente da Doença de Chagas em áreas endêmicas foi a transmissão clássica, através das fezes de triatomíneos contaminados. Entretanto, atualmente deve-se dar especial atenção nos centros urbanos para a transmissão por transfusão de sangue, justificando a necessidade de rigorosa triagem sorológica dos doadores. As primeiras investigações em bancos ...