Jimenez-Marco, TeresaRiera Lizandra, Ma. CristinaGirona-Llobera, EnriqueGuillen, CarmenIniesta González, LauraAlcover Amengual, Maria MagdalenaBerenguer, DianaPujol Brugués, AlbaTomás Pérez, MíriamCancino Faure, María BeatrizSerra, TeresaMascaró, MartínGascó, JoanFisa Saladrigas, Roser2017-06-152017-06-152017-03-151723-2007https://hdl.handle.net/2445/112426Background. In the Balearic Islands, as in other areas of the Mediterranean basin, there is a significant proportion of asymptomatic Leishmania (L.) infantum-infected blood donors, who may represent an important threat to transfusion safety. The Balearic Islands blood bank, located in an area endemic for L. infantum, carried out a study of donors and patients to investigate the impact of this infectious disease on blood safety in the region. Materials and methods. Twenty asymptomatic Leishmania-infected blood donors were followed-up between 2008 and 2011 to investigate the evolution of Leishmania infection in asymptomatic carriers. Their blood was periodically tested for anti-Leishmania antibodies by western blot and for Leishmania DNA by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Additionally, the prevalence of L. infantum infection was investigated in a group of 68 multiply transfused patients to ascertain the risk of transfusion-transmitted leishmaniasis (TTL) in the region, taking into account regular blood component production practices such as pre-storage leucodepletion and pathogen reduction technology. Results. All 20 donors remained asymptomatic over the study period (2008-2011). Most donors had repeatedly positive qPCR results, either persistently or intermittently, but showed no symptoms of Leishmaniasis. Levels of parasitaemia were remarkably low in asymptomatic donors, with values ≤1 parasite/mL. Despite multiple transfusions received over 15 years, no transfused patient studied was infected with L. infantum. Discussion. L. infantum-infected donors can remain asymptomatic for at least 3 years. In our region, no cases of TTL were detected, despite an active search in multiply transfused patients. This seems to be related to two independent variables: (i) a low concentration of the parasite in the peripheral blood of asymptomatic carriers and (ii) the application of methods with proven efficacy against TTL, such as leucodepletion and pathogen reduction technology.application/pdfeng(c) Edizioni SIMTI, 2017Leishmania infantumDonants de sangTransfusió de sangIlles BalearsLeishmania infantumBlood donorsBlood transfusionBalearic Islandsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/article6714412017-06-15info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess28488962