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The continued spread of the Zika virus has raised concerns about transmission via blood transfusion.
So organizations in the US are asking people who have visited Zika outbreak zones to defer their plans to donate blood.
The US Food and Drug Administration is currently reviewing its blood donation policy with regard to the virus, but the American Red Cross and AABB are recommending donor self-deferral.
Both organizations said people should refrain from donating blood for 28 days if they have visited Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, or South America in the past 4 weeks.
AABB said blood collection facilities should implement self-deferral, but blood-center-documented donor deferral is not required.
AABB has also recommended that donors who don’t defer call the blood collection facility if they travelled to Zika outbreak areas or other tropical areas and develop an unexplained illness that includes 2 or more symptoms common to Zika, dengue, and chikungunya virus infection in the 14 days after they donate blood.
In addition, blood collection facilities should recall nontransfused products if an infected donor reports experiencing 2 or more such symptoms.
And if a blood collection facility receives a post-donation report of a confirmed case of Zika, the facility should recall any in-date products collected in the 14 days before the onset of symptoms and defer the donor for 28 days after the symptoms are resolved.
About the virus
Zika is a flavivirus transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. The virus was first described in Africa, but it began to cause epidemics in the Pacific in 2007. In 2015, Zika was found in Brazil, and local transmission has since been reported in more than 20 countries and territories in the Western Hemisphere.
When symptomatic, Zika infection typically causes a mild illness characterized by fever, myalgia, rash, retro-orbital pain, and prostration. However, asymptomatic infection occurs in about 80% of Zika-infected individuals.
Microcephaly has been linked to the ongoing Zika epidemic in Brazil, although the connection has not been confirmed. It has been suggested that microcephaly may be a result of maternal transmission of the Zika virus to the fetus.
During the French Polynesian outbreak of Zika virus that occurred in 2013, there was a 20-fold increase in the number of individuals diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome.
It is not clear what risk the Zika virus poses to the blood supply, but the potential for transfusion transmission was suggested during the French Polynesian outbreak.
The maximum duration of viremia is thought to be less than 28 days, which is why AABB and American Red Cross are recommending a 28-day deferral period for blood donors who may have the virus. 
The continued spread of the Zika virus has raised concerns about transmission via blood transfusion.
So organizations in the US are asking people who have visited Zika outbreak zones to defer their plans to donate blood.
The US Food and Drug Administration is currently reviewing its blood donation policy with regard to the virus, but the American Red Cross and AABB are recommending donor self-deferral.
Both organizations said people should refrain from donating blood for 28 days if they have visited Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, or South America in the past 4 weeks.
AABB said blood collection facilities should implement self-deferral, but blood-center-documented donor deferral is not required.
AABB has also recommended that donors who don’t defer call the blood collection facility if they travelled to Zika outbreak areas or other tropical areas and develop an unexplained illness that includes 2 or more symptoms common to Zika, dengue, and chikungunya virus infection in the 14 days after they donate blood.
In addition, blood collection facilities should recall nontransfused products if an infected donor reports experiencing 2 or more such symptoms.
And if a blood collection facility receives a post-donation report of a confirmed case of Zika, the facility should recall any in-date products collected in the 14 days before the onset of symptoms and defer the donor for 28 days after the symptoms are resolved.
About the virus
Zika is a flavivirus transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. The virus was first described in Africa, but it began to cause epidemics in the Pacific in 2007. In 2015, Zika was found in Brazil, and local transmission has since been reported in more than 20 countries and territories in the Western Hemisphere.
When symptomatic, Zika infection typically causes a mild illness characterized by fever, myalgia, rash, retro-orbital pain, and prostration. However, asymptomatic infection occurs in about 80% of Zika-infected individuals.
Microcephaly has been linked to the ongoing Zika epidemic in Brazil, although the connection has not been confirmed. It has been suggested that microcephaly may be a result of maternal transmission of the Zika virus to the fetus.
During the French Polynesian outbreak of Zika virus that occurred in 2013, there was a 20-fold increase in the number of individuals diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome.
It is not clear what risk the Zika virus poses to the blood supply, but the potential for transfusion transmission was suggested during the French Polynesian outbreak.
The maximum duration of viremia is thought to be less than 28 days, which is why AABB and American Red Cross are recommending a 28-day deferral period for blood donors who may have the virus.
The continued spread of the Zika virus has raised concerns about transmission via blood transfusion.
So organizations in the US are asking people who have visited Zika outbreak zones to defer their plans to donate blood.
The US Food and Drug Administration is currently reviewing its blood donation policy with regard to the virus, but the American Red Cross and AABB are recommending donor self-deferral.
Both organizations said people should refrain from donating blood for 28 days if they have visited Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, or South America in the past 4 weeks.
AABB said blood collection facilities should implement self-deferral, but blood-center-documented donor deferral is not required.
AABB has also recommended that donors who don’t defer call the blood collection facility if they travelled to Zika outbreak areas or other tropical areas and develop an unexplained illness that includes 2 or more symptoms common to Zika, dengue, and chikungunya virus infection in the 14 days after they donate blood.
In addition, blood collection facilities should recall nontransfused products if an infected donor reports experiencing 2 or more such symptoms.
And if a blood collection facility receives a post-donation report of a confirmed case of Zika, the facility should recall any in-date products collected in the 14 days before the onset of symptoms and defer the donor for 28 days after the symptoms are resolved.
About the virus
Zika is a flavivirus transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. The virus was first described in Africa, but it began to cause epidemics in the Pacific in 2007. In 2015, Zika was found in Brazil, and local transmission has since been reported in more than 20 countries and territories in the Western Hemisphere.
When symptomatic, Zika infection typically causes a mild illness characterized by fever, myalgia, rash, retro-orbital pain, and prostration. However, asymptomatic infection occurs in about 80% of Zika-infected individuals.
Microcephaly has been linked to the ongoing Zika epidemic in Brazil, although the connection has not been confirmed. It has been suggested that microcephaly may be a result of maternal transmission of the Zika virus to the fetus.
During the French Polynesian outbreak of Zika virus that occurred in 2013, there was a 20-fold increase in the number of individuals diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome.
It is not clear what risk the Zika virus poses to the blood supply, but the potential for transfusion transmission was suggested during the French Polynesian outbreak.
The maximum duration of viremia is thought to be less than 28 days, which is why AABB and American Red Cross are recommending a 28-day deferral period for blood donors who may have the virus.