In March, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved an experimental test to check blood donations for the Zika virus.
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The emerging epidemic of Zika, particularly in the state of Florida, has forced the federal entity to take extra security measures, as there is still much uncertainty about the disease.
“Testing of donated blood is already underway in Florida and Puerto Rico, as well as in other areas, and it has shown to be beneficial in identifying donations infected with Zika virus”, said the FDA statement.
Traveled to areas with active transmission of Zika virus during the past four weeks.
The WHO had rejected a call for the Games to be moved or postponed due to the Zika outbreak, saying it would “not significantly alter” the spread of the virus. Yet two serum tests confirmed the presence of Zika antibodies in his blood.
Most of the cases within the USA and D.C. are related to travel overseas or sexual transmission.
Zika virus infection during pregnancy has caused serious birth defects in a few cases in the USA and hundreds of cases in Central and South America where infants have been born with microcephaly, a condition where the brain and skull are malformed.
“We don’t know who is spreading Zika via sex that they acquired at the Olympics”, Caplan says.
Florida is bracing for a double whammy from Mother Nature, with a tropical wave in the Caribbean threatening to balloon into a hurricane just as the region is fighting outbreaks of the mosquito-borne Zika virus.
Expanded testing will continue to reduce the risk for transmission of Zika virus through the USA blood supply and will be in effect until the risk of transfusion transmission of Zika virus is reduced.
Back in February, the FDA also asked that people who had traveled to places where the Zika virus is prevalent, or who have symptoms that suggest infection, should wait a month before donating blood.
“Over 8,000 travel associated and over 2,000 non-travel associated cases of Zika have been reported in the United States and USA territories”, Marks told reporters.
More than 2,000 travelers in the continental USA have tested positive for Zika virus, and more than 9,000 cases have been detected in US territories, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Developed symptoms suggestive of Zika virus infection during the past four weeks.
Given frequency of travel of individuals within the United States, he said there was a risk that people without symptoms of Zika could donate blood and transmit the virus.
Things are much worse in the US territory of Puerto Rico, where federal health officials have declared a public health emergency because Zika is spreading so rapidly among residents there.
Blood collection sites already test donations for HIV, hepatitis, West Nile virus and other blood-borne viruses. The cost of adding Zika testing to the screening process is less than $10 per blood donation, according to officials at South Texas Blood and Tissue Center.
Marks said Hologic Inc HOLX.O and Roche Molecular Systems ROG.S had been granted special approval for their tests to be used to screen the blood supply. There have been cases of Zika transmission through blood transfusion in Brazil.
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She said people who need a blood transfusion need to balance the risk of not getting transfused against their perceived risk of contracting Zika.
