Chagas Disease and Transfusion Risk in Italy: The Results of a National Survey.

BACKGROUND

Universal serological screening in endemic areas is essential for preventing Chagas disease transmission by transfusions, while in non-endemic areas, screening is provided only to donors exposed to the infection risk. In this respect, in order to ensure high and uniform standards of quality and safety of blood components, the Italian National Blood Centre conducted a survey to detect information on management of donors at risk of Chagas disease and on the current transfusion risk.

METHODS

The National Blood Centre conducted a survey on preventive measures for Chagas disease in the years 2020-2021.

RESULTS

Survey results are broadly representative of the national situation; out of 24,269 tested donors, only 15 donors were confirmed positive (0.4 out of 100,000 donors). This rate is lower than the number of positive donors (72/100,000) for transfusion transmissible infections (HIV, HBV, HCV, and ) in the same period. Furthermore, the number of positive blood donors is lower than the positive subjects in the general population.

CONCLUSIONS

In Italy, infection transfusion risk may be considered still very low, and this is confirmed by the absence of documented transfusion transmission.