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FDA approves test for Chagas disease
Infection Control Monitor, December 15, 2006
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) December 13 approved a test that will help protect the nation's blood supply. The test is for Chagas disease--a fatal parasitic infection that is common in Latin America and increasingly prevalent in the U.S. blood supply, reported the New York Times.
Major blood banks in the United States said they would adopt the test for Chagas disease, which can be passed from mother to child or through blood transfusion or organ donation, the newspaper reported. In Latin America the disease is usually transmitted by the bite of a parasite-carrying insect called the kissing bug.
About 100,000 people in the United States are thought to be infected with Chagas. Blood banks will need to discard all units of blood that test positive for antibodies to the Chagas parasite, according to a Red Cross scientist.
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