Newly-published blood donation guideline is published to guard against Zika virus

To prevent the spread of Zika virus, the US Food and Drug Administration issued a new guideline on Feb 16th, suggesting people who once went to Zika virus endemic areas in four weeks have to wait at least another four weeks before blood donation.

US FDA says there is the risky people of spreading Zika virus also include those who showed Zika virus infection symptoms in the last four weeks, as well as with people who live in the Zika virus endemic areas or who have sexual contact in the past three months. All these kinds of people need the same delay of four weeks to donate blood. The symptoms of Zika virus are similar to dengue fever, and they include fever, rash, headache, muscle and joint pain.

The agency also recommended that, if the Zika virus endemic areas need transfusions, it is best to obtain whole blood or blood components used for transfusion from no virus endemic areas.

FDA said that there are two reasons for the introduction of this guideline: first, there is the risk of the spread of Zika virus during the process of transfusion in spite that this event has not been found in the United States; the second is that about 80% of the Zika virus infection does not show symptoms. To prevent the spread of the virus Zika, the agency also plans to release delay donation guidelines on human cells, tissues and related medical products.

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