‘Do not take blood of people from Zika-hit region’

MUMBAI: As a measure to prevent Zika infection from spreading in India, the National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC) has directed blood banks to not accept blood from people with a travel history to Zika-affected regions in the country in the last 120 days.

Health experts welcomed the move but said that provisions need to be made to address the shortage of blood donors from states like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh for patients in need of blood and blood components.

In a notification sent to all the blood banks in India on November 19, Dr Shobini Rajan, director, NBTC, stated that the guidelines for blood donation and collection were discussed in a Joint Monitoring Group meeting of the top health officials of the country on October 22.

As per the guidelines for blood donor selection criteria, transfusion officials are directed to conduct a thorough screening of donors to ensure that individuals returning from outbreak zones are not accepted for blood donation until 120 days of return. These donors also must be symptom-free prior to the donation.

The blood banks should also not accept blood from donors until two weeks following complete recovery from acute viral infection and post completion of any therapy or medication.

“The directives are reiterated as a part of the original action plan we drew in October 2017. In the light of recent outbreaks in certain states, where Zika cases are being reported, we issued the guidelines to contain the spread through blood and blood components,” said Rajan.

After first reportage of the infection in February 2017 in Gujarat, followed by one case reported in July 2017 at Krishnagiri district in Tamil Nadu, the infection has spread to Jaipur and Rajasthan where over 131 people have been tested positive this year. Three more cases of Zika virus were recently reported in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh in the last week of October.

Dr Om Srivastava, director, infectious diseases department, Jaslok Hospital, who is also a part of the state’s infectious disease advisory committee, said that the decision will eliminate potential spread of infected blood samples.

“At the same time, the officials need to study the loss of probable blood components owing to this particular advisory and make necessary provisions to fill the void,” said Srivastava.

“Our experts are looking into the matter, and there is no cause for concern as of now,” said Sanjeeva Kumar, additional secretary, Union health ministry.