Serological survey of Leishmaniainfection in blood donors in Salvador, Northeastern Brazil

Abstract

BackgroundVisceral Leishmaniasis is endemic to Brazil, where it is caused by Leishmania infantum (syn. Leishmania chagasi). Following parasite inoculation, individuals may experience asymptomatic infection, raising the possibility of parasite transmission through the transfusion of contaminated blood products. In the present work, we evaluated the prevalence of asymptomatic Leishmania infection among blood donors in Salvador, northeastern Brazil.MethodsPeripheral blood was collected from 700 blood donors attending the Blood Bank of Bahia (HEMOBA/SESAB), from January to September 2010. We evaluated anti-Leishmania serology by ELISA, employing Soluble Leishmania Antigen (sensitivity 90% and specificity 95%). The presence of parasite DNA was determined by qPCR, targeting a single copy gene (G6PD), and by end-point PCR, targeting multiple targets, namely a segment located in the Leishmania rRNA locus (ITS) and the conserved region of kinetoplastid DNA (kDNA) minicircles.ResultsThe blood-donor population was comprised of 74.5% of males with a mean age of 34 years. Anti-Leishmania serology by ELISA was positive in 5.4% (38/700) individuals. One individual was also positive for Chagas’ disease and another tested positive for Syphilis. Employing qPCR, parasite DNA was not found in any of 38 seropositive samples. However, by ITS PCR, 8/38 (21%) samples were positive and this positivity increased to 26/38 (68%) when we targeted kDNA amplification. Agreement between both techniques (ITS and kDNA PCR) was fair (kappa = 0.219).ConclusionsThese results indicate that asymptomatic infection is present among the blood donor population of Salvador, a finding that warrants a broader discussion regarding the need to implement specific screening strategies.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2334-14-422) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Socio‐epidemiological characterisation of blood donors with asymptomatic Leishmania infantum infection from three Brazilian endemic regions and analysis of the transfusional transmission risk of visceral leishmaniasis

“…The high prevalence of seropositivity to L. infantum in blood donors from the endemic regions in this study confirms data reported in the Brazilian literature (Luz et al, ; Urias et al, ; França et al, ; Fukutani et al, ). This prevalence is much higher than the sum of donors considered unfit for donation due to the seven blood‐transmissible diseases compulsorily tested in the country, which in 2013 was 3·64% (ANVISA – Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária, Brazil, 2013).…”

“…In this scenario, the transmission of parasites of the genus Leishmania occurs normally through the bite of phlebotomine sand flies. However, studies have shown parasite survival in different storage blood component preparations (Grogl et al, ; Cardo, ; Fukutani et al, ) and have also shown that the transfusion of contaminated blood products can be a source of disease transmission in parallel with the transplantation of organs (Desjeux, ; Silva et al, ; Mahesh et al, ).…”

Antissaliva Antibodies of Lutzomyia Longipalpis in area of Visceral Leishmaniasis

“…10 In the present study, none of the samples were positive in the rapid test, corroborating the results of other studies that reported low sensitivity rates for asymptomatic infections. 11 Therefore, tests based on rK39 are most useful when diagnosing active infection by Leishmania species.…”

Presence of anti-Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis antibodies in blood donors in the West-Central region of the State of Paraná, Brazil

“…The association of the clinical and epidemiological with the serological screening can improve the blood donor selection by detection of asymptomatic forms of diseases that are transmissible through blood. Fukutani et al (12) , detected Leishmania kinetoplast deoxyribonucleic acid (kDNA) minicircles in blood donors in an endemic area for visceral leishmaniasis, indicating that, in addition to antibodies, these asymptomatic individuals can harbors the parasite, representing risk of transmission to the recipient.…”