Sobre a transmissão transfusional da febre dengue: [carta ao editor] / About dengue fever transmitted through blood transfusion: [letter to editor]

ABSTRACT

The authors S Wendel & J E Levi present a critical review on our previously published proposal for the introduction of dengue NS1 antigen EIA screening in the blood bank routine, aiming at preventing transmission of the dengue virus through blood transfusions. Theyfocus on the fact that just a few cases were reported in non-peerreviewedpapers; they put under question the adequacy of the NS1 antigen EIA test and evoke its unfavorable cost-benefit. Also, they claim the testing system has yet to be validated in Brazil. Weunderstand that several factors comprise a solid set of elements supporting the need for immediate preventive measures, as proposed including 1) the recognized parenteral infectivity of dengue virus; 2) the case of transfusion transmitted denguereported in Transfusion this year; 3) under-diagnosis and undernotification;4) the environmental issues and disease evolution; 5) ethical questions; 6) the presence of NS1 for all virus strains; and7) the high cost of molecular assays.