Leishmania infantum chagasi detection in blood donors living in an endemic area

Abstract

Abstract 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 chagasi, mainly transmitted through the bite of an infected sandfly female from the genus Lutzomyia. In American HVL endemic areas, is common the occurrence of asymptomatic infection, which contribute with the possibility of L. infantum chagasi transmission during a blood transfusion. To know the prevalence of L. infantum chagasi 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 that six presented positive results by PCR (85.71%), which were later identified as L. infantum chagasi by RFLP. The presence of L. infantum chagasi 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.