Failure of the revised pre-donation guidelines to prevent people with a history of high-risk behaviour from donating blood.
We have evaluated the effectiveness of the alteration in the literature aimed at the self-exclusion of blood donors with a history of high-risk behaviour. Since the introduction of anti-HCV screening on 1 September 1991 all HCV-positive donors in the Trent Region have been invited for interview by Blood Transfusion medical staff to ascertain risk factors for HCV infection. We have compared the 5-month periods before (1 September, 1992 to 31 January, 1993) and after (1 February, 1993 to 30 June, 1993) the introduction of the amended literature on 1 February, 1993. No differences between the two time periods were noted for the prevalence rate of HCV infection amongst new or repeat donors, or history of risk factors or specific exclusion criteria. The new literature is failing to exclude people with a history of high-risk behaviour from donating blood and further study of this problem is urgently required.
Neal
K R
KR
Department of Public Health Medicine and Epidemiology, University of Nottingham, U.K.
Jones
D A
DA
James
V
V
D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001771:Blood Banks / Q000592:standards*; D001782:Blood Donors / Q000523:psychology*; D003617:Dangerous Behavior; D005260:Female; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006266:Health Education; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D010174:Pamphlets; D015995:Prevalence; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012307:Risk Factors; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires