title: Selection strategies for newly registered blood donors in European countries.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Two selection strategies for newly-registered blood donors are available: a single-visit selection called the standard selection procedure (SSP), and a two-stage selection named predonation and donation screening (PDS). This study reviews the selection strategies for newly-registered donors currently applied in European countries.
  
  
  METHODS
  We collected data on donor selection procedures, blood donation, laboratory screening and HIV, HCV and HBV positive donors/donations from 2010 to 2013 in 30 European countries by using questionnaires. We grouped the countries according to the applied selection strategy, and for each country, we calculated the 4-year prevalence of confirmed positive results indicating the presence of overall and recent HIV, HCV and HBV infections among first-time and repeat donations and among newly-registered donors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most of the 24 countries (80%) apply the SSP strategy for selection of newly-registered donors. Twenty-two countries (73.3%) employ a nucleic acid amplification testing in addition to the mandatory serological screening. The survey confirms a higher overall prevalence of HIV, HCV and HBV infections among first-time donations and newly-registered donors than among repeat donations. In contrast, the prevalence of recently acquired HIV and HCV infections was lower among first-time donations and newly-registered donors than among repeat donations, but higher for recent HBV infections (6.7/105vs 2.6/105in the SSP setting and 4.3/105vs 0.5/105in one country using PDS). The relatively low numbers of infected donors selected by PDS impeded accurate assessment of the prevalence of recent infections in first-time donations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The data from European countries provide inconclusive evidence that applying PDS reduces the risk of donations being made in the diagnostic window of first-time donors. The impact of PDS on the risk of window-period donations and blood donor management needs further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Sanquin Blood Supply Foundation, Department of Blood-borne Infections, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ryanne W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Lieshout-Krikke
authors.affiliation: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Department Surveillance and Response Support, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Dragoslav
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Domanovic
authors.affiliation: Sanquin Blood Supply Foundation, Department Donor Studies, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Wim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: De Kort
authors.affiliation: Austrian Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mayr
authors.affiliation: Italian National Blood Centre, National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giancarlo M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Liumbruno
authors.affiliation: Italian National Blood Centre, National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Simonetta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pupella
authors.affiliation: retired from the Federal Ministry of Health, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Johann
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kurz
authors.affiliation: Section of Clinical Immunology, Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Folke
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Knutson
authors.affiliation: NHS Blood and Transplant, Department Leeds Centre, Leeds, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Sheila
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maclennan
authors.affiliation: French Blood Establishment (EFS), Saint Denis, France.
authors.forename: Gilles
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Folléa
mesh_terms: D001782:Blood Donors; D058731:Blood Safety; D046148:Donor Selection / Q000379:methods*; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D006678:HIV / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans