Leishmania infantum (syn. Leishmania chagasi) detection in blood donors living in an endemic area

   Human visceral leishmaniasis (HVL) is a neglected disease that occurs in 98 countries on five continents, and it is endemic in tropical and subtropical regions. In South America, the etiological agent of HVL is Leishmania infantum (syn. Leishmania chagasi ), mainly transmitted through the bite of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Parasitology research (1987) 2023-02, Vol.122 (2), p.671-674
Main Authors: Lopes, Elizandra Aparecida de Oliveira, Florencio-Henschel, Patrícia, Jordão, Felipe Trovalim, Sperança, Márcia Aparecida, Martins, Luciamare Perinetti Alves, Suzuki, Rodrigo Buzinaro
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Asymptomatic
Asymptomatic infection
Asymptomatic Infections
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Blood & organ donations
Blood Donors
Blood transfusion
Blood transfusions
Brief Report
Female
Humans
Immunofluorescence
Immunology
Leishmania
Leishmania infantum
Leishmania infantum - genetics
Leishmaniasis, Visceral - diagnosis
Leishmaniasis, Visceral - epidemiology
Medical Microbiology
Microbiology
Parasitic diseases
Peripheral blood
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Psychodidae
Visceral leishmaniasis
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Summary:   Human visceral leishmaniasis (HVL) is a neglected disease that occurs in 98 countries on five continents, and it is endemic in tropical and subtropical regions. In South America, the etiological agent of HVL is Leishmania infantum (syn. Leishmania chagasi ), mainly transmitted through the bite of an infected sandfly female from the genus Lutzomyia . In American HVL endemic areas, the occurrence of asymptomatic infection is common, which contributes to the possibility of L. infantum transmission during a blood transfusion. To know the prevalence of L. infantum asymptomatic infection in blood donors from the microregion of Adamantina, we investigated 324 peripheral blood samples from donors through immunofluorescence (IFAT) and PCR–RFLP techniques. Seven blood samples (2.16%) tested positive for Leishmania by IFAT, and from those, six presented positive results by PCR (85.71%), which were later identified as L. infantum by RFLP. The presence of L. infantum in the peripheral blood of blood donors supported the hypothesis of transmission by blood transfusion and points to the need to include tests for visceral leishmaniasis in blood bank screening tests and pre-storage measures, especially in endemic areas to prevent the exponential increase of HVL by blood transfusion.
ISSN:0932-0113
1432-1955
DOI:10.1007/s00436-022-07770-7