Abstract | BACKGROUND: METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, representative samples of blood were obtained from 1,108 healthy blood donors at the Fundação Pró-Sangue Hemocentro de São Paulo, the main blood transfusion centre in São Paulo. Malaria exposure was defined by the home region (exposed: forest region; non-exposed: non-forest region). Real-time PCR was used to detect Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax. Subclinical malaria cases were geo-referenced. RESULTS: Eighty-four (7.41%) blood donors tested positive for Plasmodium; 57 of these were infected by P. falciparum, 25 by P. vivax, and 2 by both. The prevalence of P. falciparum and P. vivax was 5.14 and 2.26, respectively. The overall prevalence ratio (PR) was 3.23 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.03, 5.13); P. falciparum PR was 16.11 (95% CI 5.87, 44.21) and P. vivax PR was 0.47 (95% CI 0.2, 1.12). Plasmodium falciparum subclinical malaria infection in the Atlantic Forest domain was present in the mountain regions while P. vivax infection was observed in cities from forest-surrounded areas. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of Plasmodium in healthy blood donors from a region known as non-endemic, which is important in the context of transfusion biosafety, was described. Infected recipients may become asymptomatic carriers and a reservoir for parasites, maintaining their transmission. Furthermore, P. falciparum PR was positively associated with the forest environment, and P. vivax was associated with forest fragmentation.
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Authors | Luciana M F Maselli, Debora Levy, Gabriel Z Laporta, Aline M Monteiro, Linah A Fukuya, Maria F Ferreira-da-Cruz, Claudio T Daniel-Ribeiro, Pedro E Dorlhiac-Llacer, Maria Anice M Sallum, Sérgio P Bydlowski |
Journal | Malaria journal
(Malar J)
Vol. 13
Pg. 224
(Jun 06 2014)
ISSN: 1475-2875 [Electronic] England |
PMID | 24906577
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
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Topics |
- Asymptomatic Infections
(epidemiology)
- Blood Donors
- Brazil
(epidemiology)
- Cross-Sectional Studies
- Humans
- Malaria, Falciparum
(diagnosis, epidemiology, transmission)
- Malaria, Vivax
(diagnosis, epidemiology, transmission)
- Plasmodium falciparum
(genetics, isolation & purification)
- Plasmodium vivax
(genetics, isolation & purification)
- Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
- Transfusion Reaction
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