Trypanosoma cruzi infections in blood banks of 12 Chilean hospitals.

Trypanosoma cruzi, the agent of Chagas’ disease, is highly persistent in blood collected and stored in blood banks (I, 2). Indeed, transfusions constitute the second most important avenue of Chagas’ disease transmission in Chile, the most important being provided by the man-biting insect vector Triatoma infestans. The specific area endemic for Chagas’ disease in Chile covers roughly the northern half of the country, extending from latitude 18’ South (Region I) in the extreme north, through the metropolitan areas of Santiago and Valparaiso, and down to about latitude 34’ South (Region VI). The number of infected persons in this territory has been estimated at 350,000 (3). An earlier article by the authors (4) reported the presence of blood donors serologically positive for Chagas’ disease in two parts of Chile with differing prevalences of infection; and investigators inother Latin American countries-including Brazil, Venezuela, and