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Background To quantify the impact of the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) on the risk of HIV transmission through infected blood donations in countries supported by PEPFAR blood safety programs. Methods Data reported to the World Health Organization Global Database on Blood Safety were analyzed from 28 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), Asia, and the Caribbean during 2004-2015. We used the Goals model of Spectrum Spectrum System Software, version 5.53, to perform the modeling, assuming laboratory quality for HIV testing had 91.9% sensitivity and 97.7% specificity irrespective of testing method based on results of two external quality assurance and proficiency testing studies of transfusion screening for HIV in SSA blood centers. We calculated the number of new HIV infections from the number of transfusions and the prevalence of HIV infection acquired from blood transfusions with infected blood donations. We determined the impact of laboratory testing programs by estimating the number of new HIV infections averted since PEPFAR implementation. Results Assuming that HIV testing would not be performed in any of these countries without PEPFAR funding, the number of new HIV infections acquired from blood transfusions averted by laboratory testing increased over time in all 28 countries. The total number of HIV infections averted was estimated at 229 278 out of 20 428 373 blood transfusions during 2004-2015. Conclusion Our mathematical modeling suggests a positive impact achieved over 12 years of PEPFAR support for blood safety. Standardized HIV testing of donated blood has reduced the risk of HIV transmission through blood transfusions in SSA, Asia, and the Caribbean.

The course of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly affected the healthcare systems in multiple ways, the programs of control and the management of patients with other infectious diseases as well as with chronic and acute non-communicable diseases, including those conditions requiring blood transfusions. Blood donations have been decreasing over time in multiple countries with their expected consequences. Although the spread of SARS-CoV-2 has not been detected via blood transfusion, the increasing fear and anxiety among communities have led to a substantial decrease in blood donations. Several research groups have raised concerns about the consequences associated with the scarcity of blood. However, it is critical to understand the underlying causes of the sharp decline in blood donations, as well as the consequences. Hence, we discuss the impact of blood scarcity at the blood banks during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as strategies to promote blood donations, given the experience in some countries with this situation. © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Background Brazilian blood banks encourage donors to report postdonation information (PDI) regarding conditions that would lead to deferral in an attempt to retrieve distributed nonconforming blood. Objectives This study evaluated the profile of donors reporting PDI, the impact on transfusion safety, and the possible impact on the discard of blood products. Subjects and methods We analyzed 115 consecutive PDIs between May 2014 and July 2015, a period comprising two dengue-like syndrome (DLS) outbreaks. Results These PDIs accounted for 87,780 blood donations. The average time for PDIs since donation was 4 (0-23) days and 190 blood components were discarded. DLS accounted for 21.7% of the PDIs analyzed; 11 of the 23 samples tested were nucleic acid test (NAT) positive for dengue and 2 positive for Zika virus (ZIKV). Six of these PDIs were reported after blood components have been transfused: After NAT testing, one of these recipients was diagnosed with dengue and another one with ZIKV infection, both possible transfusions transmitted but without clinical consequences. Conclusion The high number of recovered blood components due to PDI suggests that PDI remains a great ally in the fight against transfusion-transmitted infections and may be particularly useful during outbreaks of emerging potentially blood-borne pathogens.

Background: Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium. As migration of populations from endemic areas to Europe and overseas recreational travel to endemic regions increase, there is also a growing risk of transfusion-transmitted tropical diseases by blood components. Material and Methods: In the present study two routine Plasmodium spp. ELISA (CAPTIA™ Malaria EIA, Trinity Biotech, and Malaria EIA, BioRad) were compared with a new commercial ELISA (ELISA IgG, EUROIMMUN). From December 1, 2015 until November 30, 2016, 1,096 plasma samples from blood donors with a potential risk of malaria infection were collected at two blood transfusion centres in Germany and Switzerland. Results: The samples were tested comparatively with the ELISA from EUROIMMUN and the routine test used at the respective centre. Thirty-four of 595 (5.7%) tested blood samples from centre 1 and 49 of 501 (9.8%) tested blood samples from centre 2 showed reactivity on either or both ELISAs. All 83 reactive samples were sent for confirmation to the Diagnostic Centre of the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) in Basel, Switzerland. Sixteen samples, which previously were reactive in the routine Plasmodium spp. EIA assays, were proven positive after confirmation testing (i.e., 4 positive and 12 inconclusive results), indicating an anti-Plasmodium antibody prevalence in blood donations of 1.5%. From these 16 reactive samples, 13 were also detected by the index test, resulting in an assay sensitivity of 81.2%. A specificity of 98.6% was calculated (1,065/1,080 confirmed negative samples). The overall agreement with the reference centre was 95.8% in centre 1 and 94% in centre 2. Conclusion: The comparison of the new EUROIMMUN ELISA and the established CAPTIA™ Malaria EIA (Trinity Biotech) and Malaria EIA (BioRad) used for routine blood donor screening in two laboratory blood donation centres revealed that all tested ELISAs show comparable sensitivities and are equally suitable for anti-Plasmodium antibody screening in blood banks.

The transfusion of blood and its component is very essential health care modality wherein it saves life, but can also be hazardous to recipients. Despite of stringent screening methods done prior to transfusion there is always a bleak possibility of getting infections like HIV, HCV, HBV, Treponema pallidum and malaria. This study was a retrospective study carried out at Blood Bank and Component Lab, Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Memorial Medical College, Amravati over period of five years. A total of 52606 donor’s blood was collected over the period of 5 years (From 1st January 2012 to 31st December 2016). Out of these 45,796 (87.05%) were voluntary blood donations and 6,810 (12.94%) were replacement Blood donations. The overall seropositivity for all TTIs (HIV, HCV, HBV, Treponema pallidum and malaria) over a period of five years was found to be 1425 (2.71%) in which 1081 (2.36%) were voluntary donors and 344 (5.05%) were replacement donors. It was observed from the findings of this study that seropositivity rate of TTIs was less among voluntary donors. It was concluded that to improve blood safety extensive donor selection, use of sensitive screening and establishing strict guidelines in blood transfusion will help us to reduce burden of TTIs in our society. Keywords: Seroprevalence, Seropositivity, TTIs, Voluntary donors, Replacement donors.

espanolObjetivo. Como pais caribeno, la Republica Dominicana es considerada endemica para HTLV-1. El proposito de este trabajo es analizar la seroprevalencia y la tendencia del HTLV-1/2 en donantes de Santo Domingo, que al ser la capital concentra la mayoria de las donaciones. Tambien pretendemos comparar nuestros hallazgos con los datos de los paises vecinos. Pacientes y metodos. Hemos realizado un estudio transversal retrospectivo de los 10 centros de transfusion de Santo Domingo que comunicaron la deteccion de HTLV y las otras infecciones de transmision sanguinea en su totalidad, que representan mas del 40% de las donaciones de la provincia. Se determino la seroprevalencia anual de HTLV-1/2, la prevalencia del periodo (2012-2017) y la tendencia temporal. Resultados. Se evaluaron un total de 352.960 donaciones. La prevalencia de HTLV-1/2 en el periodo estudiado fue del 0,26% (929/352.960) (IC del 95%: 0,24–0,28%). Encontramos un marcado predominio de la donacion de reemplazo en comparacion con la voluntaria. Por lo tanto, este estudio puede proporcionar claves sobre la prevalencia general de la infeccion. Conclusiones. La seroprevalencia de HTLV-1/2 en donantes de sangre de Santo Domingo, Republica Dominicana, ha sido relativamente baja y estable en el periodo estudiado. EnglishObjectives. Being a Caribbean country, the Dominican Republic is considered endemic for HTLV-1. Viral screening in blood banks is recommended for this blood borne infection. The purpose of this work is to analyze the seroprevalence and trends of HTLV-1/2 in the Dominican Republic blood donors; it is focused on Santo Domingo, the capital of the country, which has the largest blood donation activity. We also aim at comparing our findings with published data from neighboring countries. Patients and methods. We performed a retrospective cross-sectional study of 10 blood centers of Santo Domingo, which reported HTLV and the other blood-transmitted infections in full. They represent more than 40% of the province’s blood donations. Annual seroprevalence of HTLV-1/2, period prevalence (2012-2017), and time trend were determined. Results. A total of 352,960 blood donations were evaluated. The HTLV-1/2 period prevalence was 0.26% (929/352,960) (95% CI: 0.24–0.28%). We also found a marked predominance of replacement donation (90.4%) in comparison to voluntary contributions (9.6%). Therefore, this blood donor study may provide clues on the general prevalence of the infection. Conclusions. Seroprevalence of HTLV-1/2 in blood donors of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, showed a relatively low and steady trend in the studied period.

Background Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, with subsequent worldwide spread. The first US cases were identified in January 2020. Methods To determine if SARS-CoV-2–reactive antibodies were present in sera prior to the first identified case in the United States on 19 January 2020, residual archived samples from 7389 routine blood donations collected by the American Red Cross from 13 December 2019 to 17 January 2020 from donors resident in 9 states (California, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin) were tested at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for anti–SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Specimens reactive by pan-immunoglobulin (pan-Ig) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) against the full spike protein were tested by IgG and IgM ELISAs, microneutralization test, Ortho total Ig S1 ELISA, and receptor-binding domain/ACE2 blocking activity assay. Results Of the 7389 samples, 106 were reactive by pan-Ig. Of these 106 specimens, 90 were available for further testing. Eighty-four of 90 had neutralizing activity, 1 had S1 binding activity, and 1 had receptor-binding domain/ACE2 blocking activity >50%, suggesting the presence of anti–SARS-CoV-2–reactive antibodies. Donations with reactivity occurred in all 9 states. Conclusions These findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2 may have been introduced into the United States prior to 19 January 2020.

PurposeAlthough blood banks have recently started to recruit blood donors through social media platforms, including WeChat, to increase recruitment effectiveness, few researchers have studied their effects on blood donation behavior. The aim of this study is to examine the influence of using official WeChat accounts on repeat blood donation behavior.Design/methodology/approachThis paper used the backstage operation data of official WeChat accounts and blood supply chain management system data from the blood bank for the study to analyze the changes in repeat blood donation behavior. First, to analyze the changes in the average frequency of blood donation per year, average volume of single blood donation and blood eligible rate of repeat blood donors before and after following the official WeChat accounts by difference-in-differences model combined with propensity score matching (PSM-DID). Second, we examined the impact of official WeChat accounts on the proportion of repeat blood donors through survival analysis.FindingsThe results show that following WeChat accounts increases the average frequency of blood donation and blood eligible rate of repeat blood donors by 14.36% and 1.19%, respectively, and have no significant effect on the average volume of single blood donation. Further, WeChat accounts have a more significant impact on the average frequency of blood donations per year for workers, farmers, medical staff and groups with education levels of junior high school. In addition, official WeChat accounts can effectively increase the proportion of repeat donors.Originality/valueThe results provide a quantitative basis for the influence of official WeChat accounts on repeat blood donation behaviors. On the one hand, it is of great significance to guide the publicity and recruitment of unpaid blood banks. On the other hand, it provides an evidence for the promotion of official WeChat accounts.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) are endemic in South Africa while hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is rare. Two nucleic acid amplification technology platforms, the Procleix Ultrio Elite assay on the Panther instrument (Elite) and the cobas MPX assay on the cobas 6800 or 8800 system (MPX), are used worldwide. In 2015 these were evaluated in South African context. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS The sensitivity of HIV, HBV, and HCV was evaluated using reference panels and 2-fold dilutions of 51 positive plasma samples tested in 12 to 24 replicates. The 95% and 50% lower limits of detection (LOD) were estimated by probit analysis and window period (WP) risk days by the Weusten model. Specificity was established by testing 3646 blood donations individually and instrument performance by evaluating all runs. RESULTS Specificity was 99.94% for MPX and 99.97% for Elite. The following 95% LODs (95% confidence intervals [CIs]) were estimated for MPX and Elite, respectively: HBV, 17.8 (10.9-33.9) and 47.9 (29.1-92.4) cp/mL; HCV, 21.9 (15.3-34.6) and 13.8 (8.9-24.0) cp/mL; and HIV, 8.3 (5.5-14.7) and 10.4 (6.9-18.2) cp/mL. On SA HBV and HIV dilution panels, relative sensitivity (range) of MPX was 3.20 (1.26-6.50) and 1.42 (0.26-2.72) fold higher than Elite. Downtime on cobas 6800 was 26 hours vs 6.6 hours on Panther (P

Background COVID-19 first appeared in Iran on 19 February 2020, and then spread rapidly over the country. In this article, we review the action plan of the Iranian Blood Transfusion Organization with respect to this disease. Method and materials We collected data on blood donations and RBC inventory for the first 8 weeks of the outbreak. We also evaluated the trend of blood donations and RBC inventory and compared them with the data of the past year. We include a summary of actions taken by the National Committee on Management of COVID-19 outbreak. Results Blood donations decreased from 33 275 to 23 465 units during the first 2 weeks of the outbreak with a corresponding decrease in the RBC inventory. But after that, donations gradually increased from 23 465 to 29 665 units. RBC inventory levels improved at the same time. Then, the Iranian New Year's holiday resulted in another downward trend. After the holiday, blood donations revived, along with the RBC inventory. Discussion Although it appears that this virus cannot be transmitted through transfusion, changes in lifestyle had a significant impact on reducing blood supply. Following implemented measures, we saw an upward trend in blood donations and an adequate supply of RBC units in blood centres, helped by a reduction in demand by hospitals. Blood centres need to be more prepared to manage future viral disasters, especially in case of transfusion-transmissible infections.

Data provenance focuses on the source of the data and on the identification of data sources and their transformations undergone over time. This paper proposes a generic method for collecting provenance data, and is a follow-up of a study carried out by the same authors in a Brazilian hemotherapy center. This method is based on the W3C’s Provenance Data Model (PROV-DM), and proposes a way to capture, store and analyze anemia-index provenance data by applying a scientific workflow, together with the management of provenance of knowledge. This is an exploratory, practical and deductive study carried out with real data from 197,551 candidates for blood donors, extracted from reports ranging from 2000 to 2018 provided by a Brazilian hemotherapy center. People identified with high anemia rates were quantified and tagged as not-suitable for blood donations. The inadequate candidates were quantified with the highest rate of anemia, and out of 1011 male candidates and 4039 female candidates, women had the highest levels of inadequate blood donations. At the end of this study, it can be concluded that the generic method for collecting data provenance proposed here can be applied in several areas of knowledge.

Objetivo: Describir las características de los donantes voluntarios de sangre en las Universidades de Neiva Huila, durante las promociones realizadas por el banco de sangre del Hospital Universitario Hernando Moncaleano Perdomo en convenio con la Universidad Surcolombiana durante el período 2013-2017. Materiales y métodos: Estudio observacional descriptivo de corte transversal, para los periodos de enero 2013 a diciembre 2017, basado en fuentes secundarias suministradas por la Red Nacional de Bancos de Sangre, a través del Banco de Sangre del Hospital Universitario Hernando Moncaleano Perdomo de Neiva. Se realizó un muestreo por conveniencia, que cumplieran con criterios de inclusión y exclusión definidos para el estudio. Las variables que se analizaron fueron grupos de edad, género, grupo sanguíneo ABO y factor Rh. Resultados: Durante el periodo de estudio se realizaron 6.547 donaciones de sangre voluntarias, de las cuales el 85,5% (I.C 95%: 84,6-86,3) fueron ocasionales y el 14,5% (I.C 95%: 13,6-15,6) habituales. Quienes más donaron fueron hombres entre 19 y 29 años. Se evidencio que el factor Rh positivo y el grupo sanguíneo O+, fueron los que más prevalecieron en la población donante en el 98,5% y 61,6% respectivamente. Conclusión: Los donantes voluntarios habituales son principalmente hombres entre 19 y 29 años, con grupo sanguíneo O y Rh +, dado que los hombres pueden realizar un mayor número de donaciones en comparación con las mujeres. Palabras Clave: Características de la población, Donantes de sangre, Sistema del grupo sanguíneo ABO, Sangre, Factor Rh.

At the present time the question about using plasma from donors who have had a coronavirus infection and from those with the specific antibodies for transfusion to patients in the acute stage of the process is being repeatedly raised on the background of the worldwide fight against coronavirus. They were the first to resort to such practices in St. Petersburg in Russia, however, it is too early to talk about any high-efficiency transfusions. It is necessary to take into account the fact that in the presence of three hundred patients who need transfusion of immune plasma, an antibody titer has been detected in only 12 donors. Given the existing circumstances, it is necessary to remember about the importance of observing the intervals between donations, whether it is plasma or whole blood. Failure to comply with these intervals, the lack of regular monitoring of clinical and biochemical blood parameters in donors, failure to comply with recommendations for observing the diet and rest between donations can lead to decompensation of recovery processes and seriously affect health of the donor. Donor rehabilitation during the recovery period requires normalization of the diet, and in some cases oral administration of preparations.

Background: The ongoing demographic changes in Poland affect the number of donors and donations with direct impact on provision of blood and blood components for transfusion. With predicted population-decline, the number of potential donors is likely to decrease while the demand for blood is bound to increase as more people will require blood therapy. The structure of the Polish donor population reporting for blood donation is not uniform, moreover it has undergone additional changes within the study period. So it seems justified to perform in-depth analysis of the dynamics of changes in the number and structure of donor group as well as determine the direction and intensity of these changes in spatial and temporal terms. Identification of the possible causes of change is also important. Aim: presentation of the structure characteristics of the donor group who reported at the Polish regional blood transfusion centers (RBTCs) in the period 2005–2017 with the intention of donating blood/ blood components. Materials and methods: Analyses of available data-sets — annual reports from 21 Polish RBTCs forwarded to the IHTM. The following tools were used for statistical analysis: Microsoft Office: Access and Excel, Microsoft Power Business Intelligence (Power BI) software and STATISTICA version 13.3 software (TIBCO Software Inc.). Results: In 2005–2017 the total number of donors amounted to 8 691 611 including 2 542 621 (29.3%) women and 6 148 990 (70.7%) men. Voluntary non-remunerated donors were estimated at 8 684 069 (99.9%). The average annual number of donors per RBTC was 31 837 and included 31 809 voluntary non-remunerated donors; 22 524 men and 9314 women. Countrywide, the highest number was reported for the period 2011–2013; 701 882 (8.08%), 707 578 (8.14%) and 706 246 (8.13%) for respective years and for the period 2015–2016 the numbers were 718 887 (8.27%) and 706 476 (8.13%) respectively. The highest number for the period was reported by 5 RBTCs: Warsaw (951 068 — 10.94%), Katowice (748 841; 8.62%), Poznan (702 087; 8.08%), Krakow (651 057; 7.49%) and Wroclaw (556 357; 6.40%). In the number of 2 352 099 donors who have recently reported for blood donation at the RBTCs the 25–44 age group was the largest (48%). The least numerous was the 45–65 age group — 548 885 (ca. 11%). There were 2 030 692 donors in the 18–24 age category ( > 41% of the total donor-population).Trend-analysis demonstrated an upward tendency for the category of 25–44 age donors and a downward one for the 18–24 age category. No explicit trend was observed for the 45–65 age group. Conclusion: The number of blood donations in Poland has recently reached the limit of approximately 1 200 000 donations per year. To exceed this limit will be no easy task. All efforts must therefore be focused on promoting people’s willingness to donate blood. The analysis indicates a falling tendency for the 18–24 age group and a rising one for higher age groups, which only raises concern for the future. The priority is therefore to motivate people of all agegroups to donate blood and become multiple donors with special emphasis however on the very young people as they are the potential source for many years to come. Promotion of voluntary non-remunerated blood-donation among children is equally important; in several years’ time transfusion medicine will depend on their willingness to donate blood.

First published online: 15 May 2020 Positive feedback about the outcome of volunteers' prosocial actions is often thought to help motivate continued volunteers' engagement. In the context of blood donations, various collection systems have begun to provide blood donors feedback on successful utilization of their blood donation. An experiment conducted by the main NGO that supports the collection of blood in Italy studies how such feedback affects subsequent blood donations. From a sample of over 8'000 blood donors, we find that providing feedback of successful utilization decreases donations. Though surprising, these results are consistent with theoretical models in which individuals engage in prosocial behavior to sustain a positive self-image : feedback about the outcome of a recent donation can act as reminders that boost self-image and reduce the need for re-engaging soon in prosocial activities. Interestingly for policy, we also show that combining the feedback with an explicit request to sign up for a new donation can eliminate, but not overturn, the negative effect of the feedback. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Blood is one of the most important parts in the human body because blood has a function to circulate the juice, carry oxygen, circulate hormones, and others. If humans reduce blood caused by accidents or anemia, so that humans lack blood or store dirty blood in the body, then it can cause diseases that endanger the health of even someone. Blood donor activity is an activity of the process of blood transfer from donors to people who lack blood. The process is carried out by those who carry out blood processing processes such as the Blood Transfusion Unit (UTD) under the auspices of the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI). UTD PMI Pekanbaru City only has a web-based blood donor information system, so UTD PMI Pekanbaru City wants to keep up with the times where many users use smartphones so they want to upgrade from the web version to the Android version. The reason for the improvement of this system aims to reduce hosting costs to be paid when using a web system and Android-based information system does not require typing too much when the user will carry out an order to the system, its use is not limited by space and place, and does not really need a connection that is prime to run the system. Android-Based Donor Information System in the Indonesian Red Cross Blood Transfusion Unit (UTD PMI) Pekanbaru City can help all people to find out about information about blood donations well by using Android-based smartphones as interesting media.

Blood donor activities are specifically the responsibility of the Indonesian Red Cross Blood Transfusion Unit Pekanbaru City. In addition, there is also the authority of the hospital to form a Blood Bank and for certain cases special handling becomes the authority of the central government. Given the importance of blood for humanitarian missions, it is necessary to have the active involvement of all elements of society to donate blood regularly. From the observations made, it was found that problems were still found by people who were confused in administrative matters. Then there are still many Pekanbaru City residents who have never done blood donor activities, not all agencies that require employees to do blood donations. Therefore it is necessary to do qualitative research to overcome these problems using the Lijan Sipoltak theory. The informants used were blood donor and community apparatus units. As a result, the quality of public services has run according to applicable regulations but still needs improvement.

Background and objectives Assessment of HBV-NAT testing compared to HBsAg and anti-HBc screening in German blood establishments for the period 2008-2015. Materials and methods Blood donations screened for HBsAg and anti-HBc along with HBV-NAT were evaluated. Sensitivity of HBsAg and HBV-NAT tests was compared in 30 HBV seroconversion panels and with the viral load of the NAT-only cases. Residual risk for HBV in the WP was modelled. Results A total of 45 270 111 donations were evaluated. There were 29 NAT-only cases in the HBsAg-negative HBV-WP, one by ID-NAT and 28 by MP-NAT. MP-NAT, on average, showed higher sensitivity than HBsAg testing: MP-NAT-LoD of 146 IU/ml vs. 362 IU/ml HBV DNA for positive HBsAg detection (range 135-1502 IU/ml), resulting in 3·1 days (range 2·0-4·8 days) earlier HBV detection. Viral loads of the NAT-only cases confirmed the sensitivity of the HBV tests in the seroconversion study. One HBsAg-negative case was due to a new HBsAg mutant combination. There was one HBsAg-reactive only case. In addition, HBV incidence in the HBV-WP included 41 HBsAg-/HBV-NAT-positives and three HBV transmission cases. The residual risk for HBsAg was estimated to be 1:1 619 419-1 268 474 compared to 1:2 793 365-2 134 702 for MP-NAT. Within chronic HBV (HBsAg-/anti-HBc-positive and MP-NAT-negative) 70% were ID-NAT positive at low viral load (median 20 IU/ml). Among anti-HBc-only, supplementary ID-NAT detected 23 occult HBV infections. Conclusions In the HBV-WP, MP-NAT provided a higher sensitivity than HBsAg testing, obtained a considerably higher yield and reduced the risk for HBV transmission. In later HBV stages, anti-HBc screening and HBV-ID-NAT intercepted potentially infectious donations.

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of blood donors and the serological profile of the blood donations at the blood bank of the University Hospital Polydoro Ernani de São Thiago of the Federal University of Santa Catarina from January 2011 to December 2016. Methods: The characteristics of donors and the serological results of the donated blood were compiled from databases. Only donations with a negative serology or a positive serology confirmed by second-sample testing were included in the study. Results: A total of 14,368 donations were included in the study, of which 118 (0.8%) had a confirmed positive serology. Of the total donations, 94.3% were from spontaneous donations and 5.7% from replacement donation. Donations were predominantly from men (54.1%), individuals aged 18 to 29 years (69.1%), and repeat donors (47.7%). Detection rates were higher for HBV (0.63%), followed by syphilis (0.13%), HIV (0.05%), HCV (0.02%), and Chagas disease (0.01%). With the exception of HIV, positive results were more frequent in the older age groups. Positive results for HBV, HCV, and HIV were more frequent among first-time donors. Replacement donations were more likely to have HBV (OR 7.7; 95% CI 4.9–12.1, p

Introduction: In Burkina Faso, screening for hepatitis C virus in blood donations is made using sensitive ELISA (Enzyme Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay) type kits. However, no confirmation of the positive results obtained with these kits is made before their notification to the blood donors due to the high costs of the confirmation kits of immunoblots type. Objective: Evaluate two rapid kits against one immunoblot kit in order to determine the most efficiency which will be proposed as an alternative for the confirmation of ELISA tests in the socio-economic context of Burkina Faso. Material and Methods: The study was carried out using a panel of 72 sera, of which 22 were positive for anti-HCV antibodies and 50 were negative. The sera were tested using the Monolisa® HCV Ag-Ab ULTRA kit and confirmed with the DECISCAN HCV Plus kit. The panel was then tested with the SD BIOLINE HCV kit and the HCV TRI-DOT kit and the results obtained were evaluated against those of the DECISCAN HCV Plus kit used as “gold standard”. Results: Compared to the DECISCAN HCV Plus kit, the HCV TRI-DOT kit exhibited a sensitivity and specificity of 100% and the SD BIOLINE HCV kit a sensitivity of 86.36% and a specificity of 100%. Conclusion: Based on the results recorded by the HCV TRI-DOT kit, it would be best suited to the sero-epidemiological context of blood donors from the National Blood Transfusion Center and could be proposed as an alternative for confirmation of ELISA tests.

Blood shortages prompt policymakers to find ways to increase the supply of blood to meet the health sector's demand. The aim of this thesis was to exam- ine the effects of selected incentives on blood donation. Using a questionnaire for blood donors, the data was collected at a transfusion station in Prague. The questionnaire focused on hypothetical choices of donors when offered a certain type of incentive. The probit model and linear probability model were cho- sen for analysing the hypothetical effects of incentives and determining the donors' significant characteristics. The results showed that the vast majority of respondents would donate as often as they currently do with any of the selected incentives. A small proportion of donors would, however, respond to the incentives. The financial incentive or small gifts would discourage a cer- tain proportion of donors; on the other hand, offering a voucher to pharmacy would motivate a small proportion of donors. Both probit and linear probabil- ity model revealed several important donor characteristics that affect attitudes towards incentives. One of the most significant characteristics was gender; the financial incentive would discourage women significantly more than men. JEL Classification A13, D64, D90, O31 Keywords incentives, blood donation,...

Does social recognition motivate prosocial individuals? We run large-scale experiments among members of Italy’s main blood donors association, testing social recognition both through social media and peer groups. We experimentally disentangle visibility concerns and peer comparisons, and we study how exposure to different norms of behavior affects giving. In an initial study and two subsequent replications, we find that a simple ask to donate is at least as effective as asks that offer social recognition. A survey experiment with blood donors provides consistent evidence that social recognition backfires when offered to good citizens, as signaling focuses on image motivation. Our results caution against over-reliance on social recognition to promote good citizenship and emphasize the importance of surveying beliefs in the target population to anticipate the outcomes of a policy at scale.

This paper investigates the impact of monetary incentives on whole blood donations. We take advantage of a quasi-natural experiment in Germany, in which one blood donation site changes its payment scheme from remunerated to non-remunerated. All other donation sites maintain their payment schemes. We show that donation volumes drop significantly after the pay drop and do not recuperate. At the same time, donation volumes increase at other paid donation sites, which is partly due to donor migration to these sites. We do not find any impact of the changed payment scheme on blood quality. Our results offer additional insight into the complex question whether it is efficient to ensure blood supply by paying donors a direct monetary compensation.

Background The rate of viral infections in donated bloods is one of the main indicators of blood safety which has to be monitored precisely. This paper provides a thorough study of blood safety indicators in the last 15 years in Iran. Methods The data of the transfusion organization in Iran from years 2003 to 2017 were used. The study focuses on the analysis of the frequency of viral hepatitis B and C (HBV and HCV) as well as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in blood donations. Results Of 27,442,124 donated bloods, the relative frequencies were 4, 302, and 81 for HIV, HBV and HCV, respectively. This study also shows that the corresponding frequencies were significantly lower in recent years (2.5, 53, and 26 per 100,000 samples in 2017). Conclusion The presented study indicates an overall low infection rate and provides evidence for the effectiveness of modern safety measures in improving the level of blood safety in Iran.

BACKGROUND Babesia is an intraerythrocytic parasite responsible for hundreds of cases of transfusion-transmitted babesiosis in the past 50 years. In May of 2020, blood testing for Babesia was implemented at the American Red Cross (ARC) for all donations in endemic areas of the northeastern and midwestern regions of the United States. METHODS Between May 2020 and May 2021, 1,816,669 donations from 13 states and DC were tested for Babesia by the ARC. Testing was performed in pools of 16 whole blood lysates using a licensed nucleic acid test (NAT) targeting Babesia 18S rRNA. Reactive donations were tested for B. microti antibody by immunoglobulin G immunofluorescence. Suspected cases of transfusion-transmitted babesiosis (TTB) were investigated if reported. RESULTS The first 13 months of Babesia screening identified 365 NAT-reactive donations. Antibodies for B. microti were detected in 79% (287) of reactive donations; negative serology samples were prevalent between May and July. Follow-up donations were collected from 142 donors, and 86% (122), collected up to 74 days after index, remained NAT reactive. Reactive donations were mainly collected in MA (77), CT (68), NY (49), NJ (47), and PA (44), but were identified in all states except Delaware. Most reactive blood donors were male (65%) aged between 40 and 80 years. Since the beginning of Babesia testing, no case of TTB was identified. CONCLUSIONS The absence of TTB cases since implementation of Babesia screening for blood donations collected in endemic areas suggests testing is an effective strategy to eliminate TTB.

Background Physicians may be an important source of blood donations as they are more likely to be familiar with the importance of donating and the donation process. The aim of this study is to report physicians' knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards voluntary and non‐voluntary blood donations. Study Design and Methods This was a cross‐sectional study conducted at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSH&RC), Saudi Arabia. One‐hundred‐and‐sixteen physicians and dentists responded to an online structured questionnaire sent to their institutional emails. Results Sixty‐eight percent of participants (79% of males and 43% of females) reported previously having donated blood. Eighty‐six percent of donors had previously donated on a voluntary basis, whereas 31% of donors had previously donated for a specific person. A recent donation within 5 years was associated with the younger age group and knowledge of the minimum interval between donations. Fifty‐six percent of participants agreed with using replacement donations. Compared to participants in the youngest age group (25‐35 years), older participants in the age groups (46‐55 years) and (>55 years) were less likely to express intention to donate in the next 6 months (OR 0.289, P = .022 and OR 0.083, P = .004, respectively). Participants reporting poor nutritional status or other medical reasons as a barrier to donating blood were less likely to intend to donate (OR 0.146, P

Objective This work aimed to establish the effects of the COVID‐19 pandemic on blood collection and blood product usage at the end of the first year. Background The arrival of SARS‐CoV‐2 to Colombia on March 6, 2020, triggered closure of borders and mandatory lockdown from March 23, 2020. Methods/Materials The Colombian National Institute of Health administers the National database of confirmed cases of SARS‐CoV‐2 and the National Haemovigilance System. We examined positive SARS‐CoV‐2 cases identified between March 6, 2020, and March 6, 2021, using positive RT‐PCR testing (72.8%) or reactive antigen (27.2%). We also analysed accepted and deferred donors' information provided by 100% of blood banks and transfused patients notified by 83% of health care facilities nationwide, between March 1, 2019, to February 28, 2021. Results Colombia registered 2 273 245 SARS‐CoV‐2 cases. From these, 60 412 people died from COVID‐19 (2.7%) and 2 172 418 individuals recovered (95.6%). There were 11 659 216 SARS‐CoV‐2 processed samples nationwide. People between the ages of 20 and 39 years concentrated 44.4% of the SARS‐CoV‐2 cases. There were 773 569 blood donations, mainly from a 20‐39‐year‐old population (60.5%). The pandemic caused a reduction of 155 393 blood donations (16.7%) and 51 823 total deferrals (33.7%). An 18.4% drop in volunteer donors and a 37.3% increase in donations from family/replacements members were observed. There were 399 453 transfused patients and 1 179 895 blood components administered (−8.7% and − 13.9% compared to March 2019–February 2020). Conclusion Mandatory lockdowns in Colombia decreased blood collection and usage, resulting in a reduction of blood components transfused to individual patients.

Blood collection has been a crucial procedure for different hospitals and blood banks to obtain blood supply in order to be used in various therapeutic procedures for the patients. Conducting blood collection drives offer access to quality and safe health services given to the patients that need blood. The current situation of the healthcare system is being hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic which made a lot of restriction and limitation to hospitals due to quarantine protocols and social distancing. Blood donation is one of the affected procedures by the COVID-19 and it is the purpose of this study to determine the rates of blood donation in selected hospital-based blood banks of Quezon City during the pandemic crisis. The trends of blood donation between phase 1, phase 2, and phase 3 of the pandemic from November 2019 to February 2020, March 2020 to May 2020, and June 2020 to October 2020 respectively is compared to find changes and effects of the pandemic to health services. This research is focused on the comparative analysis on the data gathered from the blood banks and is used to monitor the trends of blood donation services. The researchers had formulated a consent letter that was reviewed by the ethics committee and was sent to the blood banks for data privacy purposes. A letter requesting for the amount of blood donation per month of specified dates was given to the hospitals. The letter will be accessible online through email for easier access and gathering of data. Those hospitals which agreed to participate in the study and willing to share data will be included in this paper. The collected data was statistically analyzed by using IBM® SPSS® Statistics. Five hospitals were able to participate and give data on the number of blood donations. The analysis showed that most numbers of blood donations happened in phase 1 with 49.54% of the total donations throughout the study while the lowest is in phase 2 which only has 15.2%. The phase 3 period had 35.26% of the total donations which increased from phase 2. Based on the statistical analysis, the result from One way ANOVA proved that there were no significant differences between the 3 phases in the study. The rate of change in blood donation showed a decrease of 69.33% in phase 2 from the total donations in phase 1. On the other hand, phase 3 had a 132.05% increased rate from the total donations in phase 2. In conclusion, blood donation rates were affected based on the quarantine protocol which drastically decreased during phase 2 and increased in phase 3. Other than that, the study found out that donor attendance was also less in the pandemic phase than the pre-pandemic phase because of restrictions and health protocols in hospitals and in public.

Introduction Supplemental data from the 2019 National Blood Collection and Utilization Survey (NBCUS) are presented and include findings on donor characteristics, autologous and directed donations and transfusions, platelets (PLTs), plasma and granulocyte transfusions, pediatric transfusions, transfusion-associated adverse events, cost of blood units, hospital policies and practices, and implementation of blood safety measures, including pathogen reduction technology (PRT). Methods National estimates were produced using weighting and imputation methods for a number of donors, donations, donor deferrals, autologous and directed donations and transfusions, PLT and plasma collections and transfusions, a number of crossmatch procedures, a number of units irradiated and leukoreduced, pediatric transfusions, and transfusion-associated adverse events. Results Between 2017 and 2019, there was a slight decrease in successful donations by 1.1%. Donations by persons aged 16-18 decreased by 10.1% while donations among donors >65 years increased by 10.5%. From 2017 to 2019, the median price paid for blood components by hospitals for leukoreduced red blood cell units, leukoreduced apheresis PLT units, and for fresh frozen plasma units continued to decrease. The rate of life-threatening transfusion-related adverse reactions continued to decrease. Most whole blood/red blood cell units (97%) and PLT units (97%) were leukoreduced. Conclusion Blood donations decreased between 2017 and 2019. Donations from younger donors continued to decline while donations among older donors have steadily increased. Prices paid for blood products by hospitals decreased. Implementation of PRT among blood centers and hospitals is slowly expanding.

The low retention rate and lack of long-term blood donors are still worldwide problems, and the fostering and retaining of more blood donors has posed an urgent problem that requires a solution. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of functional motivation and blood donor stage in the future intention to donate blood. Three sites in China provided 252 blood donors who filled out a questionnaire including the volunteer function inventory, their future intention to donate blood, number of blood donations and demographic information. Based on a functional motivation approach, we investigated the motivations that influence unpaid blood donors’ future intention through qualitative interview methods. The results showed that blood donor stage moderated the relationship between values motivation and future intention to donate blood. More specifically, the predictive effect of values motivation on future intention decreased gradually from new donors to regular donors. Our study found that the effect of various motivations on blood donors’ intention was conditional, this effect changed with the development of blood donor behavioral stages. The results are significant in practice for establishing effective intervene strategies in maintaining blood donors.

Background Human babesiosis is a zoonotic infection caused by an intraerythrocytic parasite. The highest incidence of babesiosis is in the United States, although cases have been reported in other parts of the world. Due to concerns of transfusion-transmitted babesiosis, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended year-round regional testing for Babesia by nucleic acid testing or use of an FDA-approved device for pathogen reduction. A new molecular test, cobas Babesia (Roche Molecular Systems, Inc.), was evaluated for the detection of the four species that cause human disease, Babesia microti, Babesia duncani, Babesia divergens, and Babesia venatorum. Study design and methods Analytical performance was evaluated followed by clinical studies on whole blood samples from US blood donations collected in a special tube containing a chaotropic reagent that lyses the red cells and preserves nucleic acid. Sensitivity and specificity of the test in individual samples (individual donation testing [IDT]) and in pools of six donations were determined. Results Based on analytical studies, the claimed limit of detection of cobas Babesia for B. microti is 6.1 infected red blood cells (iRBC)/mL (95% confidence interval [CI]: 5.0, 7.9); B. duncani was 50.2 iRBC/mL (95% CI: 44.2, 58.8); B. divergens was 26.1 (95% CI: 22.3, 31.8); and B. venatorum was 40.0 iRBC/mL (95% CI: 34.1, 48.7). The clinical specificity for IDT was 99.999% (95% CI: 99.996, 100) and 100% (95% CI: 99.987, 100) for pools of six donations. Conclusion cobas Babesia enables donor screening for Babesia species with high sensitivity and specificity.

The immediate availability of blood can save other lives in case of emergency needs. Blood transfusion is a continuous demand, as it is widely required for many medical surgeries and critical operations. Therefore, there is a need to manage the whole process of supplying blood from blood donors to the hospitals and transfusion centers as well as matching the blood compatibility between the donors and patients. This comparative study reviews the existing approaches for blood donation and blood assignment management systems which aim to provide a continuous supply of blood products to transfusion centers and hospitals by optimizing the process of blood donations and predicting the future behavior of blood donation. The optimization process of blood donations is based on minimizing the wastage of blood units with regards to expiration. It also aims to reduce the additional importation of blood units from external sources by managing the critical blood shortage levels and monitoring the expiration of blood units. A discussion is proposed in this study as well, to highlight the main findings, limitations, and the unexplored issues of the existing approaches for blood donation management systems. Lastly, a set of suggestions is also presented to address the main limitations of these systems in order to point out alternative perspectives and the potential future work opportunities in the blood donation management domain.

Blood transfusions are a new problem in Islamic law discourse. In the context of Jurisprudence studies, blood includes unclean objects material (lidzatihi). And there is no syar'i law that explicitly addresses the practice of blood transfusions. This confuses Muslim life. Risks and also benefits arising from the practice of blood transfusions both, from donors and recipients of blood donations (recipient) need to be considered by both. The purpose of this is to save the lives of the recipient either, because of accidents or diseases. The unlawful legal status of the use of blood becomes mandatory when faced with urgent needs, at a time when blood transfusions are the only way to save a person's life. In this case, it is based on the fourth principle Fiqhiyyah rule which is: al-Ḍarar Yuza>l (الضَّرَرُ يُزَالُ) that the danger must be eliminated/prevented. So the practice of blood donation is a thing that must be done to avoid greater harm, for example, it will lose lives if it does not immediately make a blood donation. Also, it is revealed in a hadith narrated by Ibn Majah from Ibn 'Abbas, لَا ضَرَرَ وَلَا ضِرَر (not to fade and should not be harmed). Therefore, in practice, blood transfusions need to have adhered to the procedural requirements of the health program to donors and recipients so as not only to eliminate the danger of recipients but also avoid harm to the donor.

In this paper, we develop a multiclass, multiproduct equilibrium model for convalescent plasma donations in the Covid-19 pandemic. The potential donors are situated at different locations and the donor population at each location can be separated into different classes based on their motivation and the product for which they provide donations at a collection site. The model captures the competition between nonprofit and for-profit organizations seeking convalescent plasma donations, which is a characteristic of this new market. A variational inequality formulation of the equilibrium conditions and qualitative properties of the model are provided. We also present a capacitated version of the model. Numerical examples of increasing complexity are presented and solved using the modified projection method. The results reveal multiclass, multiproduct donor behavior under different scenarios which can inform policy makers during this pandemic and beyond.

BackgroundRecent studies suggest that lncRNAs may play significant roles in the development of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. However, as a special stage of HBV infection, the lncRNA expression in occult HBV infection (OBI) remains unclear.MethodsThe plasma level of 15 HBV infection-related lncRNAs was initially detected using qRT-PCR in 10 OBI and 10 healthy controls (HCs) in discovery phase. Significantly dysregulated lncRNAs were subsequently validated in another 64 OBI, 20 HCs, 31 chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and 20 asymptomatic HBsAg carriers (ASC). Moreover, the AP000253 expression in liver tissues and its potential biological functions in HBV infection were further investigate with public transcriptomic data and HBV-expressing cell lines.ResultsAmong candidate lncRNAs, the plasma level of AP000253 decreased significantly in OBI, ASC and CHB patients compared to HCs, while no difference was found among OBI, ASC and CHB patients. In liver tissues, similar AP000253 expression was also observed from the GSE83148 dataset, while that in HBV-expressing hepatoma cells was opposite. ROC curve analysis indicated that plasma AP000253 yielded an AUC of 0.73 with 60% sensitivity and 75% specificity when differentiating OBI from HCs, but it could not specifically separate the stage of chronic HBV infection. Furthermore, functional experiments suggested that AP000253 could promote HBV transcription and replication in hepatoma cell lines.ConclusionsAP000253 might be involved in HBV replication, and be served as a potential biomarker for HBV infection. In the setting of blood donations, plasma AP000253 would be more useful to moderately distinguish OBI in HBsAg-negative donors. However, the AP000253 expression in liver tissues and associated molecular mechanism of HBV infection deserve further study in future.

Objectives The rate and trend of transfusion transmissible infections (TTIs) in blood donations from 2012 to 2017 at the Bamenda Regional Hospital Blood Service (BRHBS), Cameroon was assessed. Materials and methods A six-year retrospective study was conducted by reviewing the records of donors. Blood was screened for HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and syphilis. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 21. Differences in seropositivity rates for the four TTIs were analyzed using Chi2 test or Fisher's exact test where appropriate. Associations between sociodemographic characteristics and the TTIs markers were assessed using multiple logistic regression analysis. Results A total of 12,115 blood donations was included in the study and of these, the overall seropositivity rate of the four conventional TTIs markers was 10.5% (n = 1,273). Of the seropositive cases, 23.8% (n = 303) showed reactivity with at least two of the markers combined. When the markers were assessed individually, HBsAg recorded the highest seropositivity rate (4.7%), followed by anti-HIV and anti-syphilis (2.2%), and then by anti-HCV (1.7%). A significant decrease in the trend of the combined serological markers, HBsAg and anti-syphilis was observed over the years (P ≤ 0.05). Conclusion There is a decrease in seropositivity rates of TTIs markers in this blood service. Ongoing efforts toward the prevention of these infections is encouraged and should be intensified to improve blood safety.

Introdução: A Organização Pan-Americana da Saúde estima que 2,0% da população deveria doar sangue regularmente. Os países da América Latina e Caribe coletam sangue equivalente a 1,5% de sua população, abaixo do preconizado, deixando a oferta para viabilidade transfusional indisponível. Objetivo: Realizar a identificação de anticorpos irregulares (IAI) no plasma de doadores de sangue com relevância clínico-transfusional dos sistemas Rh, KELL, DUFFY, KIDD e MN oriundos dos hemocomponentes descartados de doadores com pesquisa de anticorpos irregulares (PAI) positiva com idade entre 18 e 69 anos, independente de sexo, no Hemocentro do Estado do Amapá. Método: Foi utilizado para a realização dos testes para PAI e IAI o Gel Teste®. A análise estatística realizada foi o teste Qui-quadrado. Resultados: Durante os períodos entre junho de 2009 a janeiro de 2013 (Período I) e setembro de 2016 e março de 2017 (Período II), foram encontradas 144 amostras PAI positivas (0,28%) em 51.985 doações de sangue, porém foi realizado o IAI em apenas 111 amostras (0,21%), tendo como anticorpo mais frequente o anti-D em 26 amostras (22,8%), anti-Kpa em 19 amostras (19,3%), anti-Dia em 18 amostras (15,8%), e outros com menor frequência. Os sistemas Rh e KELL foram os mais frequentes e de grande relevância transfusional, o que corrobora a literatura científica sobre o assunto. Conclusões: Observou-se que bolsas positivas para os testes de PAI são desprezadas, gerando um custo em torno de R$ 163.772,64, visto que os hemocomponentes poderiam ser, em alguns casos, utilizados, o que aumentaria o número de bolsas no estado do Amapá e auxiliaria o serviço de hemoterapia.

Heart To Heart is a service and interaction design diploma project that explores how design can improve different aspects of blood donation in Norway. Blood is a living material that cannot be made artificially, and patients who need transfusions depend on donors for their treatment. Because blood has a limited shelf life, it is essential that the blood bank continuously receives new donations. Extensive insight work, involving blood donors, non-donors and staff at the Oslo Blood Bank and the Red Cross Blood Program helped us identify eight key findings. These form a basis for a series of design proposals that form a vision for further development of the blood donor experience and system. A user map shows the proposed seamless and meaningful blood donor experience. A detailed overview of the various proposals shows how they add value and contribute towards the underlying need for more donors. The goal of our project is to advance the discussion of digitalization of the Norwegian blood donation system in a user centric direction. In the long term we believe this can provide the blood banks with more donors while preserving blood security and providing the donors themselves with better experiences. Our hope is that we can contribute to shifting the focus from the problems, limitations and technicalities of today towards the possibilities and potential of where the service could be headed.

Objectives To metagenomically analyse blood units originating from the Brazilian Amazon and positive for parenterally transmitted infections (human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV), Chagas disease or syphilis). Methods Twenty plasma samples (35% HBV-positive, 10% HIV-positive, 10% HCV-positive, 20% positive for syphilis, 20% for Chagas disease, and 5% for HTLV) assembled in pools were analysed by metagenomic next-generation sequencing. The obtained raw sequencing data were submitted to a bioinformatic pipeline set up for identification of emerging viruses. The viral reads of interest were phylogenetically analysed and confirmed by PCR in the individual samples. Results The metagenomic analysis identified contigs belonging to the emerging human Gemykibivirus-2 (HuGkV-2) in two pools. The HuGkV-1 phylogeny demonstrated that the Amazonian isolate formed a separate cluster with other HuGkV-2 strains obtained from human hosts. The PCR confirmation detected HuGkV-1 DNA in three individual samples (15%). Conclusions HuGkV-2 is an emerging virus with unknown clinical impact. The detection of HuGkV-2 DNA in blood donations positive for parenterally transmitted infections showed that HuGkV-2 can be considered as an opportunistic viral agent with a hypothetic parenteral transmission route.

Influenza A virus infection has rarely been documented to cause viremia. In 28 blood donations in Brazil that were deferred because of postdonation information, we identified influenza A(H3N2) virus RNA in 1 donation using metagenomic analysis. Our finding implies theoretical risk for viremia and transfusion transmission.

The use of social media is an important strategy to raise public awareness about blood donation, especially in the lockdown during the ongoing COVID-19 scenario The pandemic has caused a sizeable shortage of blood donations across the country WhatsApp is an important communication tool with many unique features We analysed the use of WhatsApp for donor mobilization during the COVID-19 pandemic The results of the study were encouraging with 31 65% donors responding to the WhatsApp message and donated blood Females exhibited a higher degree of response rate (42 25%) as compared to males (25 62%) Further quantitative and exploratory research studies are needed to see the impact of WhatsApp in the retention of these donors