Prevalence of XXXX in Tunisian blood donors.

@entity1 @entity1593 @entity344 @entity1701 @entity194
OBJECTIVES: Prevalence of adult @entity1593 is unknown in Tunisia. Symptomatic forms are less frequent than silent forms, which, according to recent serological screening in Europe and the United States, have an estimated prevalence of 1/100 to 1/500. We aimed to determine the prevalence of @entity1593 in healthy blood donors in Tunisia. METHODS: Between November 2002 and March 2004, 1 418 sera from blood donors were tested for IgA @entity1701 ( @entity1701 ) by indirect immuno-fluorescence on monkey esophagus cryosections. RESULTS: The sample population included 1090 @entity1 and 328 @entity1 : mean age 29 and 26 years respectively. Three sera from two @entity1 and one @entity1 were positive for IgA @entity1701 . ELISA search for anti-tissue tranglutaminase antibodies (ATG) in these three sera was positive in two. Upper @entity344 with proximal intestinal biopsies was performed in the three @entity1 . @entity194 was observed in the two ATG-positive @entity1 , confirming the diagnosis of @entity1593 . In the third @entity1 , histologic examination did not show any abnormality. CONCLUSION: @entity1593 is considered relatively rare in Tunisia. In fact, our study revealed a prevalence of about 1/700 among blood donors.
