[Chagasic infection prevalence in blood donors at the Regional Blood Donation Center of Iguatu]. / Prevalência de infecção chagásica em doadores de sangue do Hemocentro Regional de Iguatu, CE.

The objective of this study is to evaluate the frequency of Trypanosoma cruzi infection among blood donors at the Iguatu Regional Hemocenter, CE, 1996 - 1997, using the Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and hemagglutination passive reverse (HPR) tests. Of the 3,232 donors analyzed a total of 61 (1.9%) were seropositive for chagasic infection. The greatest number of infected donors was found in the 41-50 year age group, while the majority of donors were in the 18-30 year age group. Of the total number of donors analyzed 2,991 (92.5%) were men and 57 (1.9%) of these were seropositive. In all 1,825 (56.5 %) of the donors were from a rural area. The results showed that the ELISA test detected 49 cases of infection, but HPR only 38, thereby demonstrating that the use of two or more different tests by blood banks prevents transfusion associated Chagas' disease.