P-07 The prevalence of Chagas disease among blood donors in Guyana in 2010 and 2018.
Author(s):
K Hohenkirk, A Benjamin, C Satram, Q Jones, B Lalikar, R Agbo, W Torrington, D Bamne, S Mohite, T logan, S Razzac, L Henry, K Cummings, C Nelson, T Williams, T Semple, G D’Aguiar, J Europe, N Elliot
Year of Presentation:
2022
Objective: To compare the sero- prevalence of Chagas disease among blood donors in 2010 and 2018 and describe its relationship to risk factors such as age, sex and ethnicity.
Design and Methods: This study is a retrospective, crosssectional study that evaluated data from blood donors at the National Blood Transfusion center in 2010 and 2018. A total of 7,738 blood donors in 2010 and 10,004 blood donors in 2018 were screened for Chagas disease using the Elisa Chagas III. Age, sex, ethnicity and year of sero- positivity of cases were among the variables recorded and analyzed using SPSS.
Results: There was 1 positive case of Chagas disease in 2010 compared to 82 cases in 2018. Males recorded a higher sero-prevalence (54.2%) compared to females (45.7%). Male between the ages of 26–35 (36.4%) recorded the highest overall rate. In 2018 Indo-Guyanese has the largest seropositive outcomes of Chagas disease with 31.3% and the Amerindians the lowest outcome with 2.6%.
Conclusion: The results obtained here correspond with similar studies conducted in Guyana and the Americas. There was a significant increase in seropositive cases among blood donors in 2018 compared to 2010. These findings justify the compulsory screening of all blood products and organs for donation but also makes a case for increased screening and education among vulnerable groups such as migrants from endemic areas.