Table 1.

Characterization of articles organized by title, authors, year, journal, type of study, aim, results and conclusions.

Article title	Author	Year	Journal	Type of study	Objective	Results/Conclusions
Prevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi antibodies in blood donors from the Sao Paulo State, Brazil, between 2012 and 2014	Slavov et al.16	2017	The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries	Descriptive quantitative study: retrospective.	To examine the prevalence of anti-T. cruzi IgM/IgG antibodies in blood donors from the western part of São Paulo State in the period between 2012 and 2014.	The confirmed overall T. cruzi seroprevalence among blood donors was 0.10%, which can be considered low. The discordance obtained for T. cruzi prevalence by serologic and immunofluorescence methods demonstrates that more specific routine diagnoses are needed to diminish the cost of assays and loss to blood supply as all seropositive blood bags are immediately discarded.
Distribution of serological screening markers at a large hematology and hemotherapy center in Minas Gerais, Southeastern Brazil.	Silva et al.19	2016	Brazilian Journal of Hematology and Hemotherapy	Descriptive quantitative study: retrospective.	To assess the distribution of serological markers in blood donors at the blood banks of the Fundação Centro de Hematologia e Hemoterapia de Minas Gerais, Brazil, between January 2006 and December 2012.	Approximately 78.9% of the donors were considered eligible for the study after clinical screening. Data on the profile of serological ineligibility by the blood banks of the Fundação Hemominas highlight the particularities of each region thereby contributing to measures for health surveillance and helping the blood donation network in donor selection procedures aimed at improving blood transfusion safety.
Prevalence of Chagas disease among blood donor candidates in Triangulo Mineiro, Minas Gerais State, Brazil	Lopes et al.1	2015	Journal of São Paulo Institute of Tropical Medicine	Descriptive quantitative study: retrospective.	To analyze the serological profile of blood donors in blood banks of Hemominas hematology center, in Ituiutaba, Minas Gerais.	Analysis of data showed no significant difference between genders and there was a positive correlation between increasing age and the percentage of seropositive patients for Chagas disease. Therefore, adopting strategies that allow the safe identification of donors with positive serology for Chagas disease is essential to reduce indeterminate serological results.
Antibody levels correlate with detection of Trypanosoma cruzi DNA by sensitive PCR assays in seropositive blood donors and possible resolution of infection over time	Sabino et al.18	2013	Transfusion	Descriptive quantitative study.	To compare the results obtained by two laboratories using different PCR protocols on coded sets of samples collected from seropositive blood donors from Brazil, Honduras and the US.	Among seropositive donors, PCR-positive rates varied by country for the BSRI laboratory: Brazil (57%), Honduras (32%) and the US (14%). For all three countries, persistent DNA positivity correlated with higher ELISA S/CO values, suggesting that high-level seroreactivity reflects chronic parasitemia
Prevalence of Chagas disease in blood donors at the Uberaba Regional Blood Center, Brazil, from 1995 to 2009	Lima et al.3	2012	Journal of the Brazilian Society of Tropical Medicine	Descriptive quantitative study: retrospective.	To verify the tendency of ineligibility and describe the epidemiologic profile of donors.	Among the serum positive-donors, there was a significant predominance among those aged 30 years or over. This study affirmed the importance of systematically combating the vector, resulting in a drop of the contamination risk factor due to blood transfusion and in the improvement of the quality of hemotherapy practices.
Control of transfusional transmission	Moraes-Souza and Silva5	2011	Journal of the Brazilian Society of Tropical Medicine	Qualitative study.	To evaluate the control of transfusion-related transmission of Chagas disease.	The highly favorable results of combating the vector and donor serological coverage reduced the prevalence of seropositivity to 0.2% and 1.3%, respectively, in Brazil and Latin America, and the annual transmission rate due to blood transfusion in Brazil dropped from 20,000 to 13 in four decades. The study showed that the control strategies for vector and transfusion transmission of Chagas disease are effective.
New challenges and the future of control	Silveira10	2011	Journal of the Brazilian Society of Tropical Medicine	Qualitative study.	To evaluate the challenges and perspectives for the control of the Chagas disease.	The epidemiological situation of Chagas disease was altered as a result of control actions. However, transmission, related to the enzootic cycle, such as extra-domiciliar vectorial transmission, in addition to oral transmission, became relevant in the number of human cases of T. cruzi infection.
Seropositivity for Chagas disease among blood donors in Araraquara, São Paulo State, from 2004 to 2008	Ferreira et al.2	2011	Journal of the Brazilian Society of Tropical Medicine	Descriptive quantitative study: retrospective.	To evaluate the seropositivity rates among blood donors in Araraquara, between January 2004 and December 2008.	Positive serology was diagnosed in 0.04% of 4951 blood donations. The age of the seropositive subject was between 51 and 60 years old. The low rate of positive donors may reduce the risk of transfusion transmission of Chagas disease
Enhanced classification of Chagas serological results and epidemiological characteristics of seropositive donors at 3 large blood centers in Brazil	Sabino et al.13	2010	Transfusion	Descriptive quantitative study.	To describe the Chagas serological patterns obtained by testing at 3 large blood centers during 2007 and 2008 as part of the REDS-II International study in Brazil.	In 2007–8, 877 of 615,433 donations were discarded due to Chagas assay reactivity. The study proposed a classification algorithm that may have practical importance for donor counseling and epidemiological analyses of T. cruzi seroreactive donors.
Socioepidemiological screening of serologically ineligible blood donors due to Chagas disease for the definition of inconclusive cases	Silva et al.9	2010	Memories of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute	Descriptive quantitative study.	To describe the sociodemographic and epidemiological characteristics of blood donors with non-negative serology for T. cruzi to determine possible risk factors associated with serological ineligibility.	The frequency of serological ineligibility was 0.28%, with a predominance of inconclusive reactions (52%) and seropositivity among first-time donors, donors older than 30 years, females, donors from risk areas and subjects living in rural areas, who had contact with the triatomine vector and with a family history of Chagas disease. The results identified the population most affected by T. cruzi.
The prevalence of chagasic infection among blood donors in the State of Pernambuco, Brazil	Melo et al.4	2009	Brazilian Journal of Hematology and Hemotherapy	Descriptive quantitative study: retrospective.	To analyze the profile of the blood donors of Hemocentro de Pernambuco (Hemope), who presented reactivity for Chagas disease from 2002 to 2007	A prevalence of 0.17% was found for Chagas disease and 6.89% of the discarded bags were due to this reactivity. Most donors were men (p-value <0.0001). The age group of 18–30 years gave the lowest number of reactive serologies (20.21%). Epidemiological studies evaluated the risk of transmission of the disease by blood transfusion and the effectiveness of vector control measures.
Anti-Trypanosoma cruzi antibody detection in blood donors in the Southern Brazil	Araújo et al.17	2008	Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases	Descriptive quantitative study: retrospective.	To evaluate the positivity for T. cruzi in blood samples of donor candidates in southern Brazil.	Of 4482 samples collected in 2004 and 2005, the reactivity for anti-T. cruzi was 0.96%. Among those, 21 cases were confirmed; most were female, with little schooling and mean age of 47.2% years old. More than one diagnostic technique must be used to obtain more reliable and conclusive results.
The epidemiologic profile and prevalence of cardiopathy in Trypanosoma cruzi infected blood donor candidates, Londrina, Paraná, Brazil	Marques et al.8	2005	Journal of São Paulo Institute of Tropical Medicine	Descriptive quantitative study.	To set goals for the improvement of services and to assess the possibility of decentralization, by determining the patients’ characteristics.	The profile found was: young (mean age 42.95 years), male, Caucasian, low level of schooling, low family income, agricultural worker, from rural areas and the vector as the main mechanism of transmission. This study emphasizes the importance of expanding medical services to areas with a greater prevalence of infected individuals
On the possibility of autochthonous Chagas disease in Roraima, Amazon Region, Brazil, 2000–2001	Moura et al.7	2005	Journal of São Paulo Institute of Tropical Medicine	Descriptive quantitative study.	To investigate the possibility of the occurrence of autochthonous cycle of Chagas disease in Roraima.	Natural triatomine infection was not found in intestinal contents. The presence of anti-T. cruzi antibodies was verified in 25 individuals (1.4% out of 1821, all >15-year-old, 20 migrants). Results show that Chagas disease is not endemic in the areas studied. However, all elements of the transmission cycle are present, demanding adequate and continuous vigilance.
The discarding of blood units and the prevalence of infectious diseases in donors at the Pro-Blood Foundation/Blood Center of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil	Salles et al.12	2003	Pan American Journal of Public Health	Descriptive quantitative study: retrospective.	To analyze the changes in the proportion of blood units discarded from 1991 thru 2001 at the Pro-Blood Foundation/Blood Center of São Paulo, and to determine the prevalence of infectious diseases among donors at the Blood Center in November 2001	A significant decrease in discard was found from 1991 (20%) to 2001 (9%). The decrease in discard and the prevalence of infectious diseases among donors in 2001 reflect the increase in the percentage of repeat donors in this blood bank
Chagasic infection prevalence in blood donors for the Hemocentro Regional de Iguatu	Sobreira et al.14	2001	Journal of the Brazilian Society of Tropical Medicine	Descriptive quantitative study: retrospective.	To evaluate the frequency of T. cruzi infection among blood donors at the Hemocentro Regional de Iguatu, Ceará (1996–1997) using the Enzyme Linked Immune Sorbent Assay (ELISA) and Hemagglutination Passive Reverse (HPR) tests.	Of the 3232 donors analyzed, 61 were seropositive for chagasic infection, with the majority of donors being in the 18- to 30-year age group, men and from rural areas. The results showed that the use of two or more different tests by blood banks prevents transfusion associated Chagas disease.
Trypanosoma cruzi infection in blood donors	Bonamett et al.15	1998	Revista de Saúde Pública	Descriptive quantitative study: retrospective.	To evaluate seropositivity for T. cruzi infection in blood donors and to compare this rate with those found in blood Banks in 1958 and 1975.	The seroprevalence rate found was 1.3%. A trend of temporal decrease of the positivity rate of the serological tests for the diagnosis of T. cruzi infection was detected in the blood banks of the city in the years 1958, 1975 and 1995.
Chagas disease: an algorithm from donor screening and positive donor counseling	Hamerschlak et al.11	1997	Journal of the Brazilian Society of Tropical Medicine	Descriptive quantitative study.	To evaluate ELISA methodology and to propose an algorithm for blood banks to be applied to Chagas disease.	The sensitivity of the screening by Indirect Immunofluorescence Assay (IFA) and the 3 different ELISA tests was 100%. For Chagas disease, ELISA seems to be the best test for blood screening. It was possible to propose an algorithm to screen samples and confirm donor results at the blood bank.