Exploring the determinants of risk behavior for transfusion transmissible infections among first-time blood donors in Mandalay General Hospital, Myanmar.

INTRODUCTION: Blood donation is vital to healthcare, but it must be kept safe by mitigating the risk of transfusion transmissible infections (TTIs). The objective of this study was to investigate the factors that influence risk behavior for transfusion transmissible infections among first-time blood donors at Mandalay General Hospital, Myanmar. METHODS: This study utilized a cross-sectional study design using secondary data. Mandalay city and Mandalay Blood Bank in Mandalay General Hospital were purposely selected and a total of 406 first-time blood donors participated. A structured questionnaire administered by an interviewer was used. The questionnaire contained background characteristics, knowledge on TTIs, attitude toward TTIs, and TTIs risk behaviors. To examine the determinants (background characteristics, knowledge, and attitude) that affect risk behavior, inferential statistics techniques that included the chi-squared test, bivariable logistic regression, and multivariable logistic regression were applied. A p-value of less than 0.05 signified statistical significance. RESULTS: Among 406 first-time blood donors, 52.9% were under 20 years old, and 53.7% were male. Most had undergraduate education (77.6%), were married (84.2%), and were students (55.7%). Additionally, 76.8% hadn't received the hepatitis B vaccine. Blood groups were distributed as follows: B (40.0%), O (33.8%), A (23.4%), AB (8.9%). About 15.8% showed high knowledge level, and 63.6% had high attitude. Notably, 29.3% exhibited high-risk behavior for TTIs. Age was associated with lower risk behavior (OR = 1.54, 95% CI: 0.99, 2.38, p = 0.049), but lost significance in multivariable regression (p = 0.214). Knowledge on TTIs didn't show significance. However, high attitudes were significantly associated with lower risk behavior (OR = 11.4, 95% CI: 1.25, 103.83, p = 0.017, retained in multivariable regression, p = 0.012). CONCLUSION: Findings of this study contribute in the development of programs that ensure a safe and reliable blood supply chain. To improve blood safety standards among first-time blood donors, this study highlights the value of targeted education and screening processes, placing particular emphasis on acquiring knowledge and positive attitude toward blood donation and risk behavior.

"I am the one taking care of her and donating blood": lived experiences of role-routines of hospital-based informal caregiving in Nigeria.

PURPOSE: Informal caregivers (ICs) in Africa perform a long list of tasks to support hospitalization care. However, available studies are weak in accounting for the experiences of everyday role-routines of hospital-based informal caregiving (HIC) in under-resourced settings. This article explored the experiences of role-routines among informal caregivers in a Nigerian tertiary health facility. METHODS: The ethnographic exploratory study relied on primary data collected from 75 participants, including 21 ICs, 15 inpatients, 36 hospital staff, and 3 ad-hoc/paid carers in a tertiary health facility in Southwestern Nigeria. RESULTS: ICs perform several essential roles for hospitalized relatives, with each role characterized by a range of tasks. An integrative narrative of everyday routines of HIC as experienced by ICs showed critical complexities and complications involved in seemingly simple tasks of assisting hospitalized relatives with hygiene maintenance, medical investigations, blood donation, resource mobilization, errand-running, patient- and self-care and others. The role-routines are burdensome and ICs' experiences of them revealed the undercurrents of how health systems dysfunctions condition family members to support hospitalization care in Nigeria. CONCLUSION: The intensity and repetitive nature of role-routines is suggestive of "routinization of suffering". We recommend the closing of gaps driving hospital-based informal caregiving in Africa's under-resourced settings.

Screening and Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Among Unvaccinated Blood Donors in Chongqing, China.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the rate of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibody among unvaccinated voluntary blood donors in Chongqing, and to provide evidence for epidemic surveillance. METHODS: A total of 10,208 voluntary blood donors from January 5 to January 20, 2021, in the Chongqing area were collected, and the SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin (Ig) G and IgM antibodies were detected by chemiluminescence, and the differences of antibody-positive rate in different gender, age, ABO blood group, and different risk areas were analyzed. RESULTS: Among 10208 blood donors, 10 were found to be positive for SARS-COV-2 IgG antibody, giving a positivity rate of SARS-COV-2 IgG at 0.10%, and 29 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 IgM antibody, with a positivity rate of SARS-CoV-2 IgM at 0.28%. There was no statistical difference in the positive rate of antibody among different genders, ages, and ABO blood types, but it was related to the number of confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in each city. CONCLUSIONS: The SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence rate in Chongqing was low and correlated with the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Identification of the novel HLA-DQB1*06:466 allele by next-generation sequencing in a Chinese cord blood donor.

HLA-DQB1*06:466 differs from HLA-DQB1*06:01:01:01 by a single nucleotide substitution at position 571G→A.

Prevalence of Acute Hepatitis E Virus Infections in Swiss Blood Donors 2018-2020.

INTRODUCTION: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) genotype 3 is the major cause of acute viral hepatitis in several European countries. It is acquired mainly by ingesting contaminated pork, but has also been reported to be transmitted through blood transfusion. Although most HEV infections, including those via blood products, are usually self-limiting, they may become chronic in immunocompromised persons. It is thus essential to identify HEV-infected blood donations to prevent transmission to vulnerable recipients. AIMS: Prior to the decision whether to introduce HEV RNA screening for all Swiss blood donations, a 2-year nationwide prevalence study was conducted. METHODS: All blood donations were screened in pools of 12-24 samples at five regional blood donation services, and HEV RNA-positive pools were subsequently resolved to the individual donation index donation (X). The viral load, HEV IgG and IgM serology, and HEV genotype were determined. Follow-up investigations were conducted on future control donations (X + 1) and previous archived donations of the donor (X - 1) where available. RESULTS: Between October 2018 and September 2020, 541,349 blood donations were screened and 125 confirmed positive donations were identified (prevalence 1:4331 donations). At the time of blood donation, the HEV RNA-positive individuals were symptom-free. The median viral load was 554 IU/mL (range: 2.01-2,500,000 IU/mL). Men (88; 70%) were more frequently infected than women (37; 30%), as compared with the sex distribution in the Swiss donor population (57% male/43% female, p < 0.01). Of the 106 genotyped cases (85%), all belonged to genotype 3. Two HEV sub-genotypes predominated; 3h3 (formerly 3s) and 3c. The remaining sub-genotypes are all known to circulate in Europe. Five 3ra genotypes were identified, this being a variant associated with rabbits. In total, 85 (68%) X donations were negative for HEV IgM and IgG. The remaining 40 (32%) were positive for HEV IgG and/or IgM, and consistent with an active infection. We found no markers of previous HEV in 87 of the 89 available and analyzed archive samples (X - 1). Two donors were HEV IgG-positive in the X - 1 donation suggesting insufficient immunity to prevent HEV reinfection. Time of collection of the 90 (72%) analyzed X + 1 donations varied between 2.9 and 101.9 weeks (median of 35 weeks) after X donation. As expected, none of those tested were positive for HEV RNA. Most donors (89; 99%) were positive for anti-HEV lgG/lgM (i.e., seroconversion). HEV lgM-positivity (23; 26%) indicates an often-long persistence of lgM antibodies post-HEV infection. CONCLUSION: The data collected during the first year of the study provided the basis for the decision to establish mandatory HEV RNA universal screening of all Swiss blood donations in minipools, a vital step in providing safer blood for all recipients, especially those who are immunosuppressed.

Genome-wide association study reveals a locus in ADARB2 for complete freedom from headache in Danish Blood Donors.

Headache disorders are the most common disorders of the nervous system. The lifetime prevalence of headache disorders show that some individuals never experience headache. The etiology of complete freedom from headache is not known. To assess genetic variants associated with complete freedom from headache, we performed a genome-wide association study of individuals who have never experienced a headache. We included 63,992 individuals (2,998 individuals with complete freedom from headache and 60,994 controls) from the Danish Blood Donor Study Genomic Cohort. Participants were included in two rounds, from 2015 to 2018 and in 2020. We discovered a genome-wide significant association, with the lead variant rs7904615[G] in ADARB2 (EAF = 27%, OR = 1.20 [1.13-1.27], p = 3.92 × 10-9). The genomic locus was replicated in a non-overlapping cohort of 13,032 individuals (539 individuals with complete freedom from headache and 12,493 controls) from the Danish Blood Donor Study Genomic Cohort (p < 0.05, two-sided). Participants for the replication were included from 2015 to 2020. In conclusion, we show that complete freedom from headache has a genetic component, and we suggest that ADARB2 is involved in complete freedom from headache. The genomic locus was specific for complete freedom from headache and was not associated with any primary headache disorders.

New atypical epidemiological profile of parvovirus B19 revealed by molecular screening of blood donations, France, winter 2023/24.

In France, blood donations are tested in pools of 96 samples for parvovirus B19 (B19V) DNA to discard plasma for fractionation when it contains high viral loads. Between January 2015 and March 2024, B19V-positive donations decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by a strong rebound in 2023 and unusually high circulation during winter 2023/24 (ca 10 times higher December 2023-March 2024 vs the pre-pandemic period). Variations over time are probably related to measures implemented to limit SARS-CoV-2 spread.

Influence of Gender and Previous Blood Donation Status on Attitude Toward Blood Donation: a Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Blood supply shortage may affect the health of patients who are transfusion-dependent. Consequently, blood donation plays an important role in the community as it can provide sufficient blood supply at blood bank centers. Medical sciences students can help promote blood donation. The current study aimed to assess the knowledge on, attitude toward, and barriers on blood donation among medical sciences students at the Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences of Jazan University, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: An online questionnaire with 23 knowledge and attitude questions was established using Google Forms. Statistical analysis was performed based on gender and blood donation status (never donated, unable to donate, and donated blood). RESULTS: In total, 601 participants from six different departments responded to the questionnaire. Interestingly, female students had a higher rate of accurate responses toward the knowledge and attitude questions than male students (p < 0.01). Furthermore, students who previously donated had a higher rate of accurate responses to the questions than those who were not able to or never donated blood (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The questionnaire was designed to assess the general knowledge and attitude of medical sciences students and barriers on blood donation. Female gender and a history of blood donation had a significant impact on responses. Therefore, more efforts are required to educate students regarding the importance of blood donation among patients who are transfusion-dependent.

Meeting the transfusion needs of a patient with anti-Ena requires an international effort.

This extraordinary case showcases the identification of a rare anti-Ena specificity that was assisted by DNA-based red blood cell antigen typing and collaboration between the hospital blood bank in the United States, the home blood center in Qatar, the blood center Immunohematology Reference Laboratory, as well as the American Rare Donor Program (ARDP) and the International Society for Blood Transfusion (ISBT) International Rare Donor Panel. Ena is a high-prevalence antigen, and blood samples from over 200 individuals of the extended family in Qatar were crossmatched against the patient's plasma with one compatible En(a-) individual identified. The ISBT International Rare Donor Panel identified an additional donor in Canada, resulting in a total of two En(a-) individuals available to donate blood for the patient.

Attitude towards blood donation and its associated factors, types of blood donation, willingness, and feeling towards blood donation among potential blood donors in Ethiopia: systematic review and meta-analysis, observational study.

INTRODUCTION: Blood donation is crucial for certain populations, such as pregnant mothers, anemic patients, traumatized patients, and individuals undergoing surgery. The imbalance between the number of blood donors and the demand for blood in Ethiopia is a serious public health concern. Having a favorable attitude towards blood donation could aid in correcting this imbalance. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the proportion of favorable attitudes, types of blood donation, willingness, and feelings towards blood donation in Ethiopia. METHODS: Several databases were searched to retrieve the available articles. Heterogeneity and publication bias were assessed using the Galbraith plot with Cochrane I2 statistics and funnel plot with Egger's test, respectively. Subgroup analysis was done to identify the cause of the substantial heterogeneity. RESULT: The pooled prevalence of favorable attitudes about blood donation was 65.28% (60.10-70.47). A higher prevalence was reported among studies conducted after 2020, in Northern Ethiopia and among health care professionals: 72.66%, 68.45%, and 69.41%, respectively. The percentages of people who had good feelings, willing to donate, and encouraged others to donate are 83.99%, 74.23%, and 77.96%, respectively. Conversely, 42.84% of participants believe that risk will happen following donation. There was an association between knowledge and attitude towards blood donation (AOR = 1.76; 95% CI: 1.48-2.99). CONCLUSION: The findings of this study may imply the preparation of a blood donation campaign that helps the community. Concerned bodies from governmental and non-governmental organizations may arrange and design community education, which may increase the number of voluntary donors.

Factors Influencing Blood Donation among Young Saudi Arabian Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study to Inform Donor Recruitment and Retention Programs.

OBJECTIVE: Blood donation is critical in Saudi Arabia due to high rates of sickle cell disease and thalassemia. Recent trends show a decline in the number of blood donors, threatening blood supplies for medical treatments. This study aims to identify factors that influence blood donation decisions and behaviors among young Saudi Arabian adults to develop strategies to enhance donation rates. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 407 university students in Riyadh Province (Shaqra, Riyadh City, Al-Majmaah and Al-Duwadimi) and occurred from December 2022 to May 2023, using convenience sampling. Data were collected via online questionnaires and analyzed using logistic regression. RESULTS: Findings revealed a significant gender disparity in donation rates with males more likely to donate. Knowledge gaps were prevalent, especially regarding eligibility criteria. Support for organ donation, prior experience of receiving blood, and high levels of self-determined motivation positively associated with donation likelihood. Conversely, amotivation was a strong negative predictor of donation. CONCLUSION: This study highlights the importance of educational interventions to address misconceptions about blood donation and tailor campaigns to enhance donor motivation. Strategies focusing on these aspects could improve the donor pool and ensure a stable blood supply for patients with blood disorders in Saudi Arabia.

Identification of the novel HLA-DRB1*11:298 allele in a Chinese cord blood donor.

HLA-DRB1*11:298 shows one single nucleotide substitution at position 397 T>G compared with HLA-DRB1*11:01:01:01.

A virtual reality paradigm simulating blood donation serves as a platform to test interventions to promote donation.

Effective interventions that support blood donor retention are needed. Yet, integrating an intervention into the time-pressed and operationally sensitive context of a blood donation center requires justification for disruptions to an optimized process. This research provides evidence that virtual reality (VR) paradigms can serve as a research environment in which interventions can be tested prior to being delivered in blood donation centers. Study 1 (N = 48) demonstrated that 360°-video VR blood donation environments elicit a similar profile of emotional experience to a live donor center. Presence and immersion were high, and cybersickness symptoms low. Study 2 (N = 134) was an experiment deploying the 360°-video VR environments to test the impact of an intervention on emotional experience and intentions to donate. Participants in the intervention condition who engaged in a suite of tasks drawn from the process model of emotion regulation (including attentional deployment, positive reappraisal, and response modulation) reported more positive emotion than participants in a control condition, which in turn increased intentions to donate blood. By showing the promise for benefitting donor experience via a relatively low-cost and low-resource methodology, this research supports the use of VR paradigms to trial interventions prior to deployment in operationally-context field settings.

Future Blood Debt: Projecting Blood Supply and Demand of Korea Based on Subnational Population Projections (2021-2050).

BACKGROUND: South Korea faces a critical challenge with its rapidly declining fertility rates and an increasingly aging population, which significantly impacts the country's blood supply and demand. Despite these nationwide trends, regional disparities in blood supply and demand have not been thoroughly studied. METHODS: This research utilized blood donation data from the Korean Red Cross and blood transfusion data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. We analyzed these datasets in conjunction with regional population projections to simulate blood supply and demand from 2021 to 2050 across South Korea. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess the impact of various factors, including the number of donors, age eligibility criteria for donations, frequency of donations, and blood discard rates. RESULTS: Our projections indicate a decreasing trend in blood supply, from 2.6 million units in 2021 to 1.4 million units by 2050, while demand is expected to peak at 5.1 million units by 2045 before declining. Metropolitan areas, particularly Gyeonggi Province, are projected to experience the most severe shortages. Sensitivity analyses suggest that increasing the donation frequency of existing donors and relaxing age eligibility criteria are more effective strategies in addressing these imbalances than merely increasing the number of new donors. Blood discard rates showed minimal impact on the overall blood shortage. CONCLUSION: The findings emphasize the urgent need for targeted strategies to mitigate national and regional blood supply shortages in South Korea. Encouraging frequent donations from experienced donors and broadening eligibility criteria are critical steps toward stabilizing the blood supply amidst demographic shifts. These strategies must be prioritized to address the impending regional disparities in blood availability.

Rational or altruistic: the impact of social media information exposure on Chinese youth's willingness to donate blood.

Background: Non-remunerated blood donation is the main approach for various medical institutions to get the source of blood supply, but the blood supply shortage is still a problem in today's society. Social media has become the main approach of information acquisition for youth groups nowadays, and the information on social media will have an impact on people's behavioral decisions. The objective of this study was therefore to investigate the correlation between social media exposure to relevant information about blood donation and the willingness of youths to donate blood. Methods: We collected data from 455 questionnaires through an online questionnaire and structural equation modeling was constructed for validation. Data were analyzed for reliability, validity, and demographic differences using IBM-SPSS 26.0, and IBM-SPSS-AMOS 26.0 was used for model fit analysis and path analysis. Results: The results of the study showed that there was a positive correlation between social media exposure to relevant blood donation information and willingness to donate blood (ß = 0.262, p < 0.001), altruism (ß = 0.203, p < 0.001) and self-efficacy (ß = 0.170, p < 0.001). While there was also a positive correlation between attitude toward blood donation and self-efficacy (ß = 0.560, p < 0.001), there was no positive correlation between it and willingness to donate blood (ß = -0.180, p = 0.786). There was also a positive correlation between altruism and willingness to donate blood (ß = 0.150, p < 0.05) and attitude toward blood donation (ß = 0.150, p < 0.001). Similarly, there was a positive correlation between self-efficacy and willingness to donate blood (ß = 0.371, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Exposure to more information related to blood donation on social media can increase the willingness of the youth population to donate blood, while exposure to information related to altruism and self-efficacy on social media can also enhance young people's attitudes toward blood donation, while further strengthening their willingness to donate.

Finger photopletysmography detects early acute blood loss in compensated blood donors: a pilot study.

Objective.Diagnosis of incipient acute hypovolemia is challenging as vital signs are typically normal and patients remain asymptomatic at early stages. The early identification of this entity would affect patients' outcome if physicians were able to treat it precociously. Thus, the development of a noninvasive, continuous bedside monitoring tool to detect occult hypovolemia before patients become hemodynamically unstable is clinically relevant. We hypothesize that pulse oximeter's alternant (AC) and continuous (DC) components of the infrared light are sensitive to acute and small changes in patient's volemia. We aimed to test this hypothesis in a cohort of healthy blood donors as a model of slight hypovolemia.Approach.We planned to prospectively study blood donor volunteers removing 450 ml of blood in supine position. Noninvasive arterial blood pressure, heart rate, and finger pulse oximetry were recorded. Data was analyzed before donation, after donation and during blood auto-transfusion generated by the passive leg-rising (PLR) maneuver.Main results.Sixty-six volunteers (44% women) accomplished the protocol successfully. No clinical symptoms of hypovolemia, arterial hypotension (systolic pressure < 90 mmHg), brady-tachycardia (heart rate <60 and >100 beats-per-minute) or hypoxemia (SpO2< 90%) were observed during donation. The AC signal before donation (median 0.21 and interquartile range 0.17 a.u.) increased after donation [0.26(0.19) a.u;p< 0.001]. The DC signal before donation [94.05(3.63) a.u] increased after blood extraction [94.65(3.49) a.u;p< 0.001]. When the legs' blood was auto-transfused during the PLR, the AC [0.21(0.13) a.u.;p= 0.54] and the DC [94.25(3.94) a.u.;p= 0.19] returned to pre-donation levels.Significance.The AC and DC components of finger pulse oximetry changed during blood donation in asymptomatic volunteers. The continuous monitoring of these signals could be helpful in detecting occult acute hypovolemia. New pulse oximeters should be developed combining the AC/DC signals with a functional hemodynamic monitoring of fluid responsiveness to define which patient needs fluid administration.

Dengue virus transmission risk in blood donation: Evidence from Thailand.

Individuals infected with dengue virus (DENV) often show no symptoms, which raises the risk of DENV transfusion transmission (TT-DENV) in areas where the virus is prevalent. This study aimed to determine the evidence of DENV infection in blood donors from different geographic regions of Thailand. A cross-sectional study was conducted on blood donor samples collected from the Thai Red Cross National Blood Center and four regional blood centers between March and September 2020. Screening for DENV nonstructural protein 1 (NS1), anti-DENV immunoglobulin G (IgG), and IgM antibodies was performed on residual blood from 1053 donors using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. Positive NS1 and IgM samples indicating acute infection were verified using four different techniques, including quantitative real-time (q) RT-PCR, nested PCR, virus isolation in C6/36 cells, and mosquito amplification. DENV IgG seropositivity was identified in 89% (938/1053) of blood donors. Additionally, 0.4% (4/1053) and 2.1% (22/1053) of Thai blood donors tested positive for NS1 and IgM, respectively. The presence of asymptomatic dengue virus infection in healthy blood donors suggests a potential risk of transmission through blood transfusion, posing a concern for blood safety.