Syphilis reactivity among blood donors in Brazil: associated factors and implications for public health monitoring.

Background: Increasing syphilis infection rates are a concerning issue worldwide. Blood donation screening is an opportunity to monitor the burden of asymptomatic infections, providing information on contemporary factors associated with infection and public health insights into transmission.

Methods: Blood donations collected at five Brazilian blood centers between January 2020 and February 2022 were screened with treponemal or non-treponemal assays according to local protocols, followed by alternate Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA); samples with reactive or indeterminate results in the alternate ELISA were further tested with the rapid plasma reagin (RPR), and categorized as RPR-positive or RPR-negative.

Prevalence and clinical consequences of Hepatitis C virus infection in patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT) recipients. In Brazil, its occurrence in HCT recipients remains undetermined. We now report on HCV prevalence in HCT recipients and its clinical consequences.

Survival analysis over a 20-year period of a Brazilian cohort of blood donors coinfected HIV-HCV.

Among individuals coinfected with HCV and HIV, studies of mortality from non-hepatic causes have shown inconsistent results. The aim of this study was to investigate the contribution of HCV and HIV co-infection to mortality from hepatic and non-hepatic causes in Brazil. This retrospective cohort study included blood donors from Fundação Pró-Sangue de São Paulo (FPS) who were followed from 1994 to 2016 to compare mortality and its causes between HIV-HCV coinfected individuals versus those seronegative for all tested infections.

Detection of unreported usage of the antiretroviral drug lamivudine in two blood donors.

Background: Unreported HIV antiretroviral (ARV) drug usage by blood donors compromises the ability to detect evidence of HIV infection in blood screening tests and represents a risk for blood transfusion safety. Our objective was to determine the frequency of undeclared ARV drug use by blood donors with altered HIV markers.

Study Design And Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of donations that were tested for HIV antibody (ab), antigen (ag), and RNA by chemiluminescent immunoassay and nucleic acid screening tests.

Factors Associated with Leg Ulcers in Adults with Sickle Cell Disease in Brazil.

Objective: To define the prevalence of leg ulcers and identify the clinical and laboratory factors associated with leg ulcers in adult participants.

Methods: The authors conducted a cross-sectional study of 1,109 patients who were 18 years or older with SS or Sβ0-thalassemia genotypes from a Brazilian cohort. Investigators assessed the prevalence of factors associated with leg ulcers from 2013 to 2017.

Economic evaluation of plerixafor addition in the mobilization and leukapheresis of hematopoietic stem cells for autologous transplantation: a systematic review.

Introduction: Although plerixafor in association with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) can improve mobilization and collection of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) by leukapheresis, cost may limit its clinical application. The present study systematically reviews economic evaluations of plerixafor plus G-CSF usage compared to G-CSF alone and compares different strategies of plerixafor utilization in multiple myeloma and lymphoma patients eligible for autologous HSC transplantation.

Areas Covered: Relevant economic evaluations, partial or complete, were searched on PubMed, Embase, LILACS, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials for a period ending 30 June 2021.

Improved detection of hepatitis C virus-positive blood donors and determination of infection status.

Background: In low-risk populations, variability in the sensitivity of current serological tests for Hepatitis C virus (HCV) blood donor screening may lead to the presence of false-positive results. This contributes to the unnecessary loss of blood donor samples as well as to difficulty in accurate donor counselling. The present study determined the optimal cut-off value of a chemiluminescent immunoassay for identification of HCV-reactive blood donors.

Predicting SARS-CoV-2 Variant Spread in a Completely Seropositive Population Using Semi-Quantitative Antibody Measurements in Blood Donors.

SARS-CoV-2 serologic surveys estimate the proportion of the population with antibodies against historical variants, which nears 100% in many settings. New approaches are required to fully exploit serosurvey data. Using a SARS-CoV-2 anti-Spike (S) protein chemiluminescent microparticle assay, we attained a semi-quantitative measurement of population IgG titers in serial cross-sectional monthly samples of blood donations across seven Brazilian state capitals (March 2021−November 2021).

Prevalence and Risk Factors for Human T-Cell Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) in Blood Donors in Brazil-A 10-Year Study (2007-2016).

It is unknown whether HTLV-1/2 prevalence has been stable or changing with time in Brazil. We present a 10-year (2007-2016) analysis of HTLV-1/2 infection in first-time blood donors from four blood banks in Brazil. The Brazilian blood centers participating in this multicenter Recipient Epidemiology and Donor Evaluation Study (REDS) are located in Recife in the Northeast and in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte located in the Southeast of the country.

The impact of immediate adverse donation reactions on the return of volunteers undergoing platelet apheresis.

Introduction: Immediate adverse reactions experienced during donation decrease return rates among whole-blood donors, but little is known about this effect among platelet apheresis donors. We investigated the impact of immediate adverse reactions on the return rates of volunteer apheresis platelet donors.

Methods: In a sample of 4108 consecutive platelet apheresis donors seen from August 2016 through June 2019, we evaluated whether immediate adverse reactions were associated with returning for a subsequent platelet apheresis donation within a 12-month period.

Knowledge of Hepatitis C virus vertical transmission and subsequent pregnancy outcome in virus-positive female blood donors.

Introduction: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) can be vertically transmitted from mother to fetus. We evaluated knowledge about HCV vertical transmission in female blood donors who became pregnant following detection of HCV in their donated blood.

Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive study of females seen at a single blood bank in Sao Paulo, Brazil who were diagnosed with HCV infection in their donated blood.

Immunogenicity of personalized dendritic-cell therapy in HIV-1 infected individuals under suppressive antiretroviral treatment: interim analysis from a phase II clinical trial.

Background: We developed a personalized Monocyte-Derived Dendritic-cell Therapy (MDDCT) for HIV-infected individuals on suppressive antiretroviral treatment and evaluated HIV-specific T-cell responses.

Methods: PBMCs were obtained from 10 HIV individuals enrolled in trial NCT02961829. Monocytes were differentiated into DCs using IFN-α and GM-CSF.

Survival among children and adults treated with granulocyte transfusions: Twenty years' experience at a Brazilian blood center.

Background: It remains controversial whether granulocyte transfusions as a supportive treatment improve survival in patients with febrile neutropenia or granulocyte dysfunctions. We describe survival rates subsequent to granulocyte transfusions in pediatric and adults patients treated at a major blood center in Brazil.

Material And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical charts of pediatric and adult patients treated with granulocyte transfusions at our institution from January 2000 to October 2019.

Influence of unreported HIV prophylaxis on the kinetics of post-blood donation HIV seroconversion.

Background: In 2020, of 110,000 blood donors screened for HIV exposure two individuals were identified who were viral RNA-positive but seronegative. One of the donors, borderline negative in a pooled screening test for HIV RNA, utilized antiretroviral drugs as post-exposure, pre-donation prophylaxis. The kinetics of subsequent HIV seropositivity in both donors are described.

Higher risk of death from COVID-19 in low-income and non-White populations of São Paulo, Brazil.

Introduction: Little evidence exists on the differential health effects of COVID-19 on disadvantaged population groups. Here we characterise the differential risk of hospitalisation and death in São Paulo state, Brazil, and show how vulnerability to COVID-19 is shaped by socioeconomic inequalities.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using hospitalised severe acute respiratory infections notified from March to August 2020 in the database.

Occult and active hepatitis B virus detection in donated blood in São Paulo, Brazil.

Background: The present study determined the HBV antigen, antibody, and DNA status in blood donations deemed to be HBV positive. Individuals with an occult HBV infection (OBI), defined as being positive for HBV DNA but negative for HBV surface antigen (HBsAg), as well as those with active infection (HBsAg-positive), were identified and characterized.

Study Design And Methods: From a total pool if 198,363 blood donations, we evaluated in a cross-sectional study, 1106 samples that were positive in screening tests for antibody to HBV core antigen (HBcAb), HBsAg, and/or HBV DNA by nucleic acid testing (NAT-HBV).

HIV primary drug resistance and associated HIV risk factors among HIV positive blood donors in Brazil from 2007 to 2017.

Background: Acquisition of HIV primary drug resistant (PDR) infection can lead to poor virologic and clinical outcomes in individuals and hampers public health efforts in epidemic control. Monitoring PDR in HIV-positive blood donors can be used to inform nationwide trends in the spread of drug-resistant HIV strains.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using genetic sequence analysis to assess HIV pol sequences, PDR, and risk factors for infection using audio computer-assisted structured interviews in four large blood centers in Brazil from 2007 to 2017.

Correlation between SARS-COV-2 antibody screening by immunoassay and neutralizing antibody testing.

Background: The efficacy of convalescent plasma (CP), an alternative for the treatment of COVID-19, depends on high titers of neutralizing antibodies (nAbs), but assays for quantifying nAbs are not widely available. Our goal was to develop a strategy to predict high titers of nAbs based on the results of anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoassays and the clinical characteristics of CP donors.

Study Design And Methods: A total of 214 CP donors were enrolled and tested for the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (IgG) using two commercial immunoassays: EUROIMMUN (ELISA) and Abbott (Chemiluminescence).

Detection and analysis of blood donors seropositive for syphilis.

Background: The increasing incidence of syphilis worldwide has called attention to the risk of transmission by transfusion.

Aims: To determine the prevalence of active syphilis in blood donors and characterise the serological profile of syphilis-positive donors.

Methods: Samples positive for Treponema pallidum using the chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay (CMIA) during blood donor screening from 2017 to 2018 were tested by the Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) non-treponemal test and for anti-T.

Three-quarters attack rate of SARS-CoV-2 in the Brazilian Amazon during a largely unmitigated epidemic.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spread rapidly in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state in northern Brazil. The attack rate there is an estimate of the final size of the largely unmitigated epidemic that occurred in Manaus. We use a convenience sample of blood donors to show that by June 2020, 1 month after the epidemic peak in Manaus, 44% of the population had detectable immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies.

Declining antibody levels to Trypanosoma cruzi correlate with polymerase chain reaction positivity and electrocardiographic changes in a retrospective cohort of untreated Brazilian blood donors.

Background: Although infection with Trypanosoma cruzi is thought to be lifelong, less than half of those infected develop cardiomyopathy, suggesting greater parasite control or even clearance. Antibody levels appear to correlate with T. cruzi (antigen) load.

Characterization of HIV risks in a Brazilian sickle cell disease population.

Background: A low prevalence of HIV in sickle cell disease (SCD) patients has been reported in the literature though mechanisms for this are not understood.

Methods: HIV risk behaviors were compared between SCD cases and non-SCD controls using a self-administered audio computer-assisted self-interview. SCD cases were recruited from a multi-center SCD cohort established in Brazil; controls were recruited from SCD social contacts.