Blood agency keeps eye on Latin America-based infection

Canadian Blood Services is waiting for a diagnostic test to be approved for Chagas disease, a blood-borne parasitic infection.

The parasite causing Chagas disease is found in parts of Mexico andCentral and South America, where it has affected millions of people. It can be spread through infected blood transfusions.

Some people with Chagas disease may show no symptoms for decades or even for life, but serious heart and intestinal complications are possible.

There is currently no test in place in Canada to screen blood donors, though Dr. Margaret Fearon, executive director of medical microbiology with Canadian Blood Services, notesthe current donor screening process includes questions about travel.

"We do already have questions in place to try and screen out individuals who may have had Chagas disease in the past," she said.

"In the meantime, we are looking at potential options for how we would screen blood donors for Chagas disease in Canada. It is certainly something that we will be doing, but we just have not gotten to the point where we can say this is the test we are going to use."

Fearon said work is being done to develop a screening test, but it has to be approved by Health Canada.

Three people in Manitoba have been infected by Chagas disease, but its prevalence in Canada is not known, Fearon said.

"One of the reasons we don't have good information is because first of all, it's not a very common disease in Canada, and you would only likely see it in people who have come from these countries," Fearon said.

Fearon suspects the disease is showing up more in northern areas because of changing immigration patterns and increased travel to and from affected areas.