Increasing prevalence of HIV-infected blood donations in eastern Europe
There is considerable variation in the prevalence of HIV-infected blood donations across Europe and unless action is taken to tighten up screening, some countries in Eastern Europe risk HIV-infected blood donations entering the blood supply, according to a survey published in the May 24th edition of Eurosurveillance Weekly Release
analysis showed that the prevalence of HIV-infected blood donations has fallen steadily in Western Europe since the 1990s, and remained stable in Central Europe. However, in Eastern Europe, the prevalence increased from less than one donation per 100,000 in 1995 to 40.3 per 100,000 in 2004. “This trend is a reflection of the development of the HIV epidemic in those regions, with many countries in the east experiencing high ongoing transmission of HIV, in particular among injecting drug users, and a large pool of newly infected potential blood donors have not yet been diagnosed”.
Earlier this week, the US Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) reaffirmed its blanket ban on gay men ever giving blood.
No comments:
Post a Comment