title: Is allergy screening of blood donors necessary? A comparison between questionnaire answers and the presence of circulating IgE antibodies.
abstract: We investigated 477 consecutive blood donors on order to find the predictive value of a questionnaire as a screening method for preventing passive transfer of IgE antibodies to common allergens that might cause transfusion reactions. Of the 477 donors, 119 (24.9%) claimed to be allergic and 358 (75.1%) recorded no allergic complaints. Serological examination with Phadiatop and a multi-allergen mix for food (fx5) detected IgE antibodies in only 54.5% of the allegedly allergic blood donors. Among the allegedly asymptomatic donors, 12.3% showed positive results in these tests. Subsequently, radioallergosorbent test analyses with common inhalant and food allergens were performed to specify the IgE responses obtained. Our results demonstrate a remarkable difference between the questionnaire answers and the serological measurements of IgE antibodies and raise the question of whether - and if so, what kind of - allergy screening is warranted among presumptive blood donors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Immunology, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stern
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Hage-Hamsten
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sondell
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Johansson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000485:Allergens / Q000276:immunology; D001782:Blood Donors / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006969:Hypersensitivity, Immediate / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D007116:Immunization, Passive / Q000009:adverse effects*; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011852:Radioallergosorbent Test; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D065227:Transfusion Reaction
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D007073:Immunoglobulin E