Prevalence of antibodies to Candida albicans and Aspergillus species in blood donors

Background: Transmission of viral, bacterial or parasitic infections is a well-known adverse side-effect of blood transfusion. The role of medically important fungi in blood transfusion remains to be elucidated. Since enhanced numbers of colony-forming units of Candida species are being isolated from gastrointestinal and urogenital tract of healthy adults with increasing frequency symptomless fungaemia in blood donors cannot be excluded. We therefore examined sera of healthy blood donors for serological evidence of current or previous fungal infections or presence of fungaemia. Material and Methods: By using commercially available ELISA, sera of 497 blood donors of different age were examined for presence of Candida albicans antigen and antibody. 330 sera were simultaneously screened for the presence of Aspergillus antibodies. Results: Candida albicans antigen could not be detected in any of the examined sera, 41 of 497 sera showed Candida albicans IgM antibodies, and a broad spectrum of sera had Candida albicans IgG antibodies exceeding cut-off value. Conspicuous values of Aspergillus antibodies could not be detected. Conclusions: Though most of the blood donors investigated showed serological evidence for recent or past immunological confrontation with Candida albicans, the results suggest that transmission of medically important fungi by blood transfusion will continue to be unlikely.