Seropositivity for anti-trypanosoma cruzi antibodies among blood donors of the "Hospital Universitário Regional do Norte do Paraná", Londrina, Brazil
Rev. Inst. Med. Trop. Säo Paulo
;
38(3): 233-240, May-Jun. 1996.
Article
in English
| LILACS
| ID: lil-320639
RESUMO
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 fifties. Further studies demonstrated practically the same seroprevalence until the eighties. In an attempt to obtain data about the real dimension of the seropositivity for anti-Trypanosoma 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 Univesitário 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.
Full text:
Available
Index:
LILACS (Americas)
Main subject:
Trypanosoma cruzi
/
Blood Donors
/
Antibodies, Protozoan
/
Chagas Disease
Limits:
Animals
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
South America
/
Brazil
Language:
English
Journal:
Rev. Inst. Med. Trop. Säo Paulo
Journal subject:
Tropical Medicine
Year:
1996
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Brazil
Institution/Affiliation country:
Universidade Estadual de Londrina/BR
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS