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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Blood donation centers across the nation will soon start testing blood samples for the Zika virus.
Blood banks already test donations for HIV, hepatitis, West Nile and other blood-borne viruses.
The FDA recommendations take effect immediately in Florida and Puerto Rico, with 11 states, mostly in the southeastern United States, added within four weeks.
The French case involved a couple who had both traveled to Martinique, where Zika was active, and was discovered through a routine blood test a few months after their return.
FDA officials say blood collection sites in Puerto Rico and parts of Florida are already testing for Zika.
“The transfusion of a pregnant woman with blood infected with the Zika virus could have bad consequences”, Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said during a conference call with reporters. The virus’ been brought to the continental U.S.by more than 2,000 people.
“There’s a sheet that lists all the areas where Zika has been prevalent, transmitted by mosquitoes and those areas are off-limits for donating blood, if you have been there in the last 28 days”, Lambert said.
She said people who need a blood transfusion need to balance the risk of not getting transfused against their perceived risk of contracting Zika.
The Singapore Ministry of Health (MOH) and National Environment Agency (NEA) which have been informed of the Zika virus infection said as the 47-year-old had not travelled to Zika-affected areas recently, she was likely to have been infected in the republic.
Up to now, more than 10 thousand persons in the United States are infested by the virus of Zika, and on a global scale, in more than 50 countries the mosquitoes are spreading the illness. Thus, questions that blood banks routinely ask about the risks of disease might not catch people who have been exposed and who have been infected with the Zika virus.
The Zika virus causes microcephaly, a birth defect that causes the baby’s head to be smaller than expected, compared with other babies of the same sex and age.
Government officials are working to control the damage and health officials had told pregnant women to stay away from the Miami area.
On the list: Alabama, Arizona, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, South Carolina and Texas.
The Zika virus, which was discovered previous year in South America, is carried by mosquitoes in tropical climates and can cause birth defects in pregnant women.
For the rest of country, the guidelines must be implemented within 12 weeks.
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There have been no cases of Zika related to blood transfusions in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
