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Inconclusive serological screening for Trypanosoma cruzi has been a problem for blood banks. This study examined the performance of serological techniques for Chagas disease in reagent samples from blood bank screenings and verified the possibilities of cross reactivity with visceral leishmaniasis. 68 samples of reagent donors tested with ELISA for Chagas disease were evaluated by other techniques and for the detection of anti-Leishmania antibodies. Four donors (5.9%) with positive results for T. cruzi were positive for ELISA Kalazar Detect (visceral leishmaniasis),three of which were confirmed by Western blot. This study confirms the specificity of the tests for Chagas disease in blood banks and reinforces the urgent adoption of measures to assess the real risk of transfusion transmission of visceral leishmaniasis.

Introduction: Infection by hepatitis B (HBV) virus is a major public health problem. Blood transfusion is one of the main routes of infection. Objectives: to estimate the prevalence of HBVpositive serology among blood donors, between 1995 and 2009, and analyze their epidemiological profile, trend and presence of the markers HBsAg and anti-HBc. Methods: Retrospective study of ineligible donors (ELISA), at ‘Hemocentro Regional de Uberaba’ (HRU), through chi-square test and odds ratio; association analysis was performed using scatter plots with linear correlation coefficients and a significance level of 5%. Results: During the period between 1995 and 2008, there were 60,811 blood donors at HRU. Among them the prevalence of ineligibility was 5.6%; 0.2% of donors (120) were HBsAg+/Anti-HBc-; 5.2% (3,192) were HBsAg-/Anti-HBc+ and 0.2% (101) were HBsAg+/Anti-HBc+. Regarding the epidemiological profile, there was significant predominance of males; age greater than or equal to 30 years; married or other marital status when compared with singles; from the city of Uberaba and non-White. Conclusion: A tendency for decreasing ineligibility was observed in the period of the study.

Introduction: Hepatitis C is caused by a flavivirus and its prevention is done by serological screening in blood banks. Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of ineligibility rate for blood donation due to HCV, to examine the epidemiological profile of the ineligible donors and the tendency of ineligibility due to HCV, and to verify the agreement between the ELISA and RIBA (recombinant immunoblot assay). Methods: Retrospective study of blood donations held at the Hemocentro Regional de Uberaba (HRU) from 1995 to 2008. The epidemiological profile was calculated according to its proportional values (to 10,000 donations) and the evaluation of the trend was performed through the linear correlation coefficient at a 5% level of significance. Analysis of agreement between ELISA and RIBA was performed with calculation of the kappa coefficient. Results: During the studied period, 218,871 blood donations were carried out at the HRU. Of these, 814 (0.37%) were unsuitable because of positive serological test for HCV by ELISA, with higher and statistically significant proportions of males, aged over 30 years, coming from the city of Uberaba and married. There was a strong linear correlation inversely proportional of ineligibility due to HCV serology in the period of time assessed (r = - 0.870631). The agreement between ELISA and RIBA was 46.8% (kappa = 0.637). Conclusion: A tendency for decreasing ineligibility due to HCV among blood donors was observed, with a progressive decrease of the risk of HCV contamination by blood transfusion.

Introduction: In spite of the preponderant sexual transmission of HIV, transfusion contamination is also worrying because of the risk of contagion during the immunological window period of the infection despite the sensitivity of the screening tests. Objectives: Determine the occurrence of donations with HIV-positive serology and analyze their epidemiological profile and trend. Methods: A retrospective study of blood donations held at HRU from 1995 to 2006. Each profile was assayed according to its proportional values (to 10,000 donations). Trend evaluation was performed through the linear correlation coefficient at a 5% level of significance. Results: During this period 177,246 blood donations were carried out at HRU. Of these, 119 had HIV-positive serology with higher statistically significant proportions among unmarried and young-aged donors. There was a strong linear correlation inversely proportional of positive serology in the period of time assessed. Conclusion: A progressive decrease of the risk of HIV contamination was observed alongside a decline of positive serology in blood donations at HRU and an increase of the infection in individuals more exposed to HIV risk factors (unmarried and young-aged donors).