title: Unexpected detection of Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum DNA in asymptomatic blood donors: fact or artifact?
abstract: A study searching for Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum DNA among blood donors from the non-endemic area in Brazil reported a rate of 7.41%. This number is at least three times higher than what has been observed in blood donors from the Amazon, an endemic area concentrating >99% of all malaria cases in Brazil. Moreover, the majority of the donors were supposedly infected by P. falciparum, a rare finding both in men and anophelines from the Atlantic forest. These findings shall be taken with caution since they disagree with several publications in the literature and possibly overestimate the actual risk of malaria transmission by blood transfusion in São Paulo city.
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mendrone
authors.forename: Crispim
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cerutti
authors.affiliation: Fundação Pró-Sangue, Hemocentro de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. jelevi@prosangue.sp.gov.br.
authors.forename: José Eduardo
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Levi
authors.forename: Marcos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boulos
authors.forename: Maria Carmen Arroyo
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Sanchez
authors.forename: Rosely dos Santos
authors.initials: Rdos S
authors.lastname: Malafronte
authors.forename: Silvia Maria
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Di Santi
authors.forename: Vicente
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Odone
mesh_terms: D058345:Asymptomatic Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016780:Malaria, Vivax / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010966:Plasmodium vivax / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D065227:Transfusion Reaction