title: Prevalence of anti-Leishmania donovani antibody among Brazilian blood donors and multiply transfused hemodialysis patients.
abstract: The prevalence of anti-Leishmania donovani antibodies was investigated in 1,500 Brazilian blood donors and multiply transfused hemodialysis patients. Sera were tested using the fucose-mannose ligand (FML) ELISA, which was shown to have 100% sensitivity and 96% specificity for kala-azar. Among 1,194 volunteer blood donors, seroreactivity was 9%, increasing to 25% in a periurban kala-azar focus. However, higher positivity (37%) was found in multiply transfused hemodialysis patients from Natal, where kala-azar is constantly present in low numbers (endemic), with sporadic outbreaks in localized regions (endemic and epidemic). Risk factors included blood transfusion, which was significantly associated with the presence of anti-Leishmania antibodies (chi2 = 8.567, P < 0.005), but did not include potential exposure to sandfly bites (chi2 = 0.033, P > 0.1). The prevalence significantly decreased to 7% in hemodialysis patients from Rio de Janeiro, where kala-azar is only occasionally seen, and was 0% in patients undergoing continuous ambulatorial peritoneal dialysis. The prospective analysis of 27 FML-seroreactive donors from Natal revealed amastigotes of Leishmania in the bone marrow of one subject while four had clinical complaints, including splenomegaly and hepatosplenomegaly. Our results point to the need for control of blood transfusion as a possible route for transmission of kala-azar in endemic areas.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil.
authors.forename: K G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Luz
authors.forename: V O
authors.initials: VO
authors.lastname: da Silva
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.forename: F C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Machado
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Araujo
authors.forename: H E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Fonseca
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Freire
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: d'Almeida
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Palatnik
authors.forename: C B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Palatnik-de Sousa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000032:analysis*; D001782:Blood Donors; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000469:parasitology; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007893:Leishmania donovani / Q000276:immunology*; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D008099:Liver / Q000469:parasitology; D015995:Prevalence; D011576:Psychodidae / Q000469:parasitology; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000009:adverse effects; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D013154:Spleen / Q000469:parasitology; D065227:Transfusion Reaction
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan