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Article: Trypanosoma cruzi Questionnaires Alone Will Not Prevent Transfusion-Transmitted Chagas Disease
- Article from:
- Blood Weekly
- Article date:
- September 7, 1998
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 NewsRX. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Pre-donation questionnaires were only partially effective in preventing transfusion-transmitted Chagas disease in a nonendemic area of Brazil.
Maria De Lourdes Barjas-Castro and colleagues evaluated the effectiveness of a questionnaire to identify blood donors at risk for infection by Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas disease, by comparing their answers with blood test results.
"We conclude that persons who had contact with the Chagas bug or whose mothers had Chagas disease are at high risk for T. cruzi infection. However, we also found that 0.23 percent of blood donors who answered all questions negatively had detectable T. cruzi antibodies ...