Evaluation of a Malaria Antibody Elisa as a Malaria Screening Test for Blood Donors

Abstract

A PI Antibody ELISA was validated for local use in screening blood donors from blood banks at Kandy, Peradeniya and Matale. A total of 1181 donors were screened. The pooled results of Kandy-Peradeniya showed a 9.5% positivity and for Matale it was 28.2%. Of 62 antibody positive sera tested for PI antigen carriage, 49(19"10) were found positive. All donors from Peradeniya were negative for parasites on blood films. Results indicate a need for routine serological screening of donors to limit the risk of transfusion malaria.