Transfusion-transmitted malaria: current donor selection guidelines are not sufficient.
A case of transfusion-transmitted malaria was identified in a 50-year-old male patient with sickle cell disease. The donor was Ghanaian, but had migrated to the UK some years previously and had not left the UK for 8 years. The donor met all of the extant donor selection guidelines [1] and a donation was consequently collected. However, on subsequent investigation of the case, the donor was found to be parasitaemic and have high titre malarial antibodies. As a result of this case, changes to the United Kingdom donor selection guidelines have been proposed. These changes will prevent any such further transmissions.
Kitchen
A
A
English National Blood Service, UK. alan.kitchen@nbs.nhs.uk
Mijovic
A
A
Hewitt
P
P
D000818:Animals; D001782:Blood Donors; D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000379:methods*; D017848:Blood-Borne Pathogens; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000209:etiology* / Q000635:transmission*; D008297:Male; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D014195:Travel; D006113:United Kingdom