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U.S. Blood Supply Safe From Zika Virus, Officials Say: MedlinePlus Health News


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U.S. Blood Supply Safe From Zika Virus, Officials Say

They detail steps being taken to protect people who need transfusions
Friday, April 7, 2017
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FRIDAY, April 7, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. blood banks are confident they have the tools to protect America's blood supply from possible new Zika virus outbreaks during the upcoming mosquito season.
The risk "was low before donor screening and is an extremely remote possibility now, with donor blood screening in place," Katz said. "Further, women in the most vulnerable period of pregnancy for bad fetal outcomes are rarely transfused in the United States, so [Zika-related birth defects] are even remoter risks."
Zika causes no symptoms in 4 out of 5 people infected, so it's unlikely that most donors would suspect they're carrying the virus.
Zika poses its main threat to the unborn, increasing a pregnant woman's risk of delivering a baby with microcephaly or other birth defects. One out of 10 pregnant U.S. women with confirmed infection in 2016 had a fetus or baby affected by Zika-related birth defects, the CDC said.
Microcephaly causes newborns to have underdeveloped heads and brains.
"We know these tests are extremely sensitive. They are much more sensitive than tests used in diagnostic public health labs," Stramer said. "It's highly unlikely that we would miss an infectious unit, but we never say never."
The screening tests are so effective that donation centers don't bother asking about travel to active Zika areas. "We'll get a more truthful answer from testing that we would by asking a donor about travel history," Stramer said.
"Indeed, Zika virus seems to be more sensitive to heat than other closely related viruses," federal regulators wrote in an accompanying editorial.
However, because pasteurization alters proteins in whole blood, it can't be used to rid most donor blood of Zika, Stramer noted.
"It's biologically possible. Transfusion transmission has been demonstrated. But the risk in the U.S. is remote," Stramer said.
SOURCES: Susan Stramer, Ph.D., vice president, scientific affairs, American Red Cross; Louis Katz, M.D., chief medical officer, America's Blood Centers; March 2017, Transfusion
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