AJTMH HINARI
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 52(4), 1995, pp. 360-363
Copyright © 1995 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Grijalva, M. J.
Right arrow Articles by Escalante, L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Grijalva, M. J.
Right arrow Articles by Escalante, L.
Right arrowPubmed/NCBI databases
Medline Plus Health Information
*Blood Transfusion and Donation
*Chagas Disease

Blood Donors in a Vector-Free Zone of Ecuador Potentially Infected with Trypanosoma cruzi

Mario J. Grijalva, Edwin C. Rowland, Malcolm R. Powell, Thomas S. McCormick AND Luis Escalante
Department of Biological Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine and the Tropical and Geographical Disease Institute, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio; Division of Parasitic Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; Pathology Department, Instituto Nacional de Higiene y Medicina Tropical, Quito, Ecuador

Chagas' disease is a serious health problem for the population of South and Central America. Blood transfusion is the second most common way in which this disease is transmitted. Several studies have reported finding Trypanosoma cruzi-infected blood in blood banks in endemic areas. Serum samples were taken from the Red Cross blood bank in Quito, a nonendemic and vector free zone of Ecuador, in December 1992 and May 1993 and analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using crude epimastigote extract from the Brazil strain of T. cruzi. Of 162 samples examined in December 1992, 12.1%, 13.9%, and 74% were seropositive, indeterminate, and seronegative, respectively. Of 173 samples taken in May 1993, 6.2%, 17.9%, 75.9% were seropositive, indeterminate, and seronegative, respectively. Western blot analysis of these sera using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with 7.5% gels separated T. cruzi epimastigote antigen proteins, and revealed a reaction with a 205-kD doublet antigen with most of the seropositive samples. These results indicate the necessity for long-term screening of blood bank donors to reduce the risk of transfusion transmission of the disease even in areas of endemic countries where the vector is not present.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1995 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.