The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
FDA advises all blood centers to screen for Zika virus
WASHINGTON >> The Food and Drug Administration wants all U.S. blood centers to start screening for the Zika virus, a major expansion intended to protect the nation’s blood supply from the mosquito-borne virus.
Friday’s advisory means all U.S. states and territories will need to begin testing blood donations for Zika. Previously, the FDA had limited the requirement to Puerto Rico and two Florida counties.
“There is still much uncertainty regarding the nature and extent of Zika virus transmission,” said Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s biologic products center, in an agency release. “At this time, the recommendation for testing the entire blood supply will help ensure that safe blood is available for all individuals who might need transfusion.”
Blood collection sites already test donations for HIV, hepatitis, West Nile virus and other bloodborne viruses.
FDA officials said Zika testing is already underway in Puerto Rico and parts of Florida, where “it has shown to be beneficial in identifying donations infected with Zika virus.”
The FDA has authorized use of two experimental blood-screening tests for Zika, one made by Roche and another from Hologic Inc.
Several testing sites are already voluntarily using the technology, including blood centers in Texas. The cost of adding Zika testing to the blood-screening process is less than $10, according to officials at South Texas Blood and Tissue Center.
Since February, U.S. blood centers have been turning away people who had traveled recently to areas with Zika outbreaks, under a previous FDA directive.
Zika is spread primarily by mosquito bites, as well as sexual relations. There have been cases of Zika transmission through blood transfusion in Brazil.
U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-3, who recently asked the FDA to update the guidelines, said in a release that the new recommendations “are a strong step forward in protecting our nation’s blood supply and the American people.”
“As the Zika virus continues to spread throughout the U.S. and its territories, we must do everything we can to respond to this public health emergency and save lives,” DeLauro said.
“Recently, I wrote to the FDA to call on them to test for the Zika virus in blood donations and I am extremely grateful that they took this action,” DeLauro said in the release. “Speaker (Paul) Ryan and House Republicans must immediately return to Washington, build on these efforts, and fully fund a robust response to the Zika virus. Every day, we learn more and more about the devastating effects of this disease and we must do our job and protect the American people.”
According to a release Friday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as of Wednesday there were more than 11,500 confirmed cases of Zika virus in U.S. states and territories, with 2,517 confirmed cases of Zika in U.S. states and Washington, D.C., and 9,011 in U.S. territories. Further, HHS said, as of Aug. 18, there were more than 1,300 pregnant women with evidence of Zika virus, including 529 pregnant women in U.S. states and Washington, D.C., and 691 pregnant women in U.S. territories.
The FDA works with other federal agencies to set standards for screening, testing and handling blood donations.
Last month, blood centers in Miami and Fort Lauderdale had to halt donations until they could begin screening each unit of blood. The order followed now-confirmed reports of local Zika transmission in the Miami area — the first in the continental United States.