| ■ U.S. Approves Chagas Screening Test | 06.12.15 |
| U.S. federal regulators have approved the first test to screen potential blood, organ and tissue donors for Chagas, a sometimes fatal tropical disease that's present in as many as 100,000 Hispanic immigrants. The test, made by Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, will help prevent infected donors from passing along the disease, the Associated Press reported. Chagas affects millions of people in parts of Mexico and Central and South America and kills about 50,000 a year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In those regions, the disease is commonly spread by blood sucking "kissing bugs" that emerge at night to bite sleeping humans. It can also be spread from mothers to unborn children and through organ transplants and blood transfusions, the AP reported. Since 1987, there have been five known cases in the United States of Chagas being spread through blood transfusion, along with two known cases in Canada. Studies show that this new test is 99 percent accurate, the FDA said. |