Seroprevalence and geographical distribution of sero‐positive blood donors to Trypanosoma cruzi at the central blood bank of the National Medical Center “La Raza”

Abstract

BACKGROUND Trypanosoma cruzi is a protozoan parasite that causes Chagas disease endemic to Latin‐America. It is estimated that 1.0 to 1.5% of Mexicans are infected with T. cruzi, which constitutes a potential risk of disease transmission via contaminated blood. New cases are being reported worldwide due to the migration of infected people from endemic areas. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS Serum samples were collected from donors at the Central Blood Bank of the National Medical Center “La Raza” from July 2008 to December 2015 and analyzed for T. cruzi antibodies using Enzyme‐linked Immunosorbent Assays. Blood donors were classified serologically as either negative or positive for Chagas disease based on the Official Mexican Standard NOM‐032‐SSA2‐2014. The geographical distribution of sero‐positive donors for Chagas disease was then determined based on the donor's areas of residence. RESULTS Of the 510, 047 donors, 595 tested positive for Chagas disease. We found a prevalence of 0.12%, was higher in males (0.13%) than females (0.08%) In both genders, there were more sero‐positive donors aged 51–65 years as compared to other age groups. Overall there were more positive donors from the State of Mexico, northern area of Mexico City, and southern area of Hidalgo State, with rates of 67.4%, 20.6%, and 5.9%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The seroprevalence of Chagas disease in blood donors attending to La Raza BB is low. Chagas disease is more prevalent in the older age groups; most sero‐positive donors are from areas considered non‐endemic to Chagas disease.

Trends of Seroprevalence of Chagas´s diseases in healthy blood donors, solid organ donors and heart transplant recipients: experience of a single health care center in Colombia.

“…A summary of other studies in blood donors from different regions and years is presented in Table 2. Most of them show similar seroprevalences and sociodemographic characteristics to this study, except for the study performed by Remesar et al in the region known as Chaco, which is highly endemic [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24].…”

“…Most of them show similar seroprevalences and sociodemographic characteristics to this study, except for the study performed by Remesar et al . in the region known as Chaco, which is highly endemic [16–24].…”

Sero‐positive blood donors to Trypanosoma cruzi: focus on the diagnostic

“…The serologic findings are relevant and support the emerging concern that the spread of Chagas disease in endemic and nonendemic countries is also associated with poor parasitological screening of blood donors . Taking into account the valuable data reported by González‐Guzmán et al, we would like to comment on the study findings in perspective.…”

“…We read with great interest and in detail the study by González‐Guzmán et al The authors, by employing an extensive serologic screening over 6.5 years, investigated serum samples of 510,047 blood donors and reported the prevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in an endemic area for Chagas disease. The serologic findings are relevant and support the emerging concern that the spread of Chagas disease in endemic and nonendemic countries is also associated with poor parasitological screening of blood donors .…”