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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, June 1999, p. 1953-1957, Vol. 37, No. 6
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Occurrence of Leishmania infantum Parasitemia in Asymptomatic Blood Donors Living in an Area of Endemicity in Southern France

Yves le Fichoux,1 Jean-François Quaranta,1,2 Jean-Pierre Aufeuvre,3 Alain Lelievre,1 Pierre Marty,1 Isabelle Suffia,1 Deborah Rousseau,1 and Joanna Kubar1,*

Groupe de Recherche en Immunopathologie de la Leishmaniose, Laboratoire de Parasitologie, Faculté de Médecine de Nice, Nice,1 and Cellule d'Hémovigilance, Hôpital Pasteur, CHU Nice,2 France, and Centre de Transfusion Sanguine, Hôpital Princesse Grace, Monaco3

Received 29 December 1998/Returned for modification 17 February 1999/Accepted 16 March 1999

Visceral leishmaniosis (VL) due to Leishmania infantum (L. chagasi) is a lethal disease if untreated, but asymptomatic L. infantum infections have been reported previously. A better understanding of parasite transmission, dissemination, and survival in the human host is needed. The purpose of this study was to assess whether L. infantum circulated in peripheral blood of subjects with no history of VL. Sera from 565 blood donors were screened by Western blotting to detect Leishmania-specific antibodies and identify individuals with probable past exposure to Leishmania. Seropositivity was found in 76 donors whose buffy coats were examined by PCR and direct culture. The parasite minicircle kinetoplast DNA was amplified from blood samples of nine donors. Promastigotes were detected by culture in blood samples from nine donors. Only two donors were PCR and culture positive. These results indicate that L. infantum circulates intermittently and at low density in the blood of healthy seropositive individuals, who thus appear to be asymptomatic carriers. Implications for the safety of blood transfusion are discussed.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Groupe de Recherche en Immunopathologie de la Leishmaniose, Laboratoire de Parasitologie, Faculté de Médecine, Ave. de Valombrose, 06107 Nice Cedex 2, France. Phone: 33 4 93 37 76 84. Fax: 33 4 93 37 76 84. E-mail: kubar{at}unice.fr.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, June 1999, p. 1953-1957, Vol. 37, No. 6
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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