       Document 0111
 DOCN  M9620111
 TI    Absence of serological surrogate markers for Trypanosoma-cruzi-infected
       blood donors.
 DT    9602
 AU    Wendel S; Biagini S; Hospital Sirio Libanes Blood Bank, Sao Paulo,
       Brazil.
 SO    Vox Sang. 1995;69(1):44-9. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/96078300
 AB    Specific serological screening tests for Trypanosoma-cruzi-infected
       donors are not yet available and thus not routinely performed in North
       America. With the recent increase of Latin-American immigration to North
       America and Europe, there is a risk of transmission by blood products.
       In this study, we evaluated the possibility whether any of the
       serological screening tests currently recommended by the AABB could be
       used as a surrogate marker for this protozoarium. A group of 26,365
       blood donors (male = 21,053 and female = 5,312) was analysed for the
       correlation of T. cruzi antibodies (TcAb) with other serological markers
       (HIV, HBsAg, ALT, HTLV-I/II, HCV, Anti-HBc, syphilis and unexpected
       hemoglobins other than A1, A2 and F). Association could be demonstrated
       only between syphilis and TcAb in the female group (p = 0.005), but the
       low number of donors found with this association (n = 4) renders the
       effect of this correlation very small. A higher prevalence of TcAb was
       found in older age groups, with even gender distribution (p < 0.05),
       however, donors aged more than 54 years also represent a minority of the
       donor pool (4.83%) and the detection of positive donors in this age
       group also has a minor preventive effect on transfusion-transmitted
       Chagas disease. We conclude that when infected blood donors must be
       detected, specific serological screening for TcAb is essential and that
       currently no surrogate marker can be considered for detecting T.
       cruzi-infected blood donors.
 DE    Animal  Biological Markers/*BLOOD  *Blood Donors  Chagas
       Disease/*TRANSMISSION  Female  Human  Male  Mass Screening
       Retrospective Studies  Serodiagnosis  Trypanosoma cruzi/*ISOLATION &
       PURIF  JOURNAL ARTICLE

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).

