As a further safety measure against the emerging Zika virus outbreak, on Friday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a revised guidance recommending universal testing of donated whole blood and blood components for Zika virus in the U.S. and its territories.
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Although there’s no longer any need to ask potential donors about their recent travel to regions affected by Zika, any prospective blood donor who says they have been infected with Zika should be asked to wait until their symptoms have resolved or for 120 days, whichever is longer, the FDA said.
“In Brazil, Zika has been linked to more than 1,800 cases of microcephaly, and United States officials expect as many as 270 cases in Puerto Rico, where local transmission of the virus is widespread”.
But people who are infected appear to only have symptoms for about a week, and it takes about a week to develop symptoms after getting bitten by an infected mosquito.
Although there are no reported cases of Zika in the Magic Valley, South Central Public Health officials tell us they are prepared with guidelines to deal with it in the event it occurs.
So far, 43 cases of locally transmitted Zika have been identified in the US, all in Florida.
Zika virus is transmitted primarily by the Aedes mosquito, a genus of mosquitoes originally found in tropical and subtropical zones, but now found on all continents except Antarctica.
Guillain-Barre causes gradual weakness in the legs, arms and upper body, and in some cases, temporary paralysis.
In addition to the Guillain-Barre cases, there were seven patients with evidence of infection from Zika or a related virus that developed neurological disorders other than Guillain-Barre. “At this time, the recommendation for testing the entire blood supply will help ensure that safe blood is available for all individuals who might need transfusion”.
Disturbing new information about the spread of the Zika virus. “We’re gonna have it up on our website so parents can download it and make sure their child comes with it on Monday”, said Terrie Maya, one of the school’s blood drive organizers.
Right now, there are 2,517 confirmed cases of Zika in the US; 9,011 in USA territories.
These states are in close proximity to places where Zika is actively spreading or where there’s been a significant number of cases contracted through travel or sexual contact. Mosquito spraying and trapping efforts are being conducted around the two cases and areas of interest as well as door to door outreach.
“We’ve had no cases locally that were acquired locally, they were all acquired somewhere else”, Washoe County Health District’s Dr. Randall Todd said.
OneBlood, a part of America’s Blood Centers network whose coverage area includes most of Florida and smaller parts of Alabama, Georgia and SC, has been testing all collections for close to a month as part of the Roche trial, said Dr. Rita Reik, chief medical officer. Adding the Zika test to screening has been estimated to cost less than $10.
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The threat this virus poses to developing babies is particularly concerning for women who are pregnant or thinking about starting or growing their families.
