BACKGROUND Blood transfusion safety is based on reliable donor screening for transmissible infections such as the hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS A novel HCV core-specific antibody was assayed on random single donations from 2007 first-time blood donors who tested negative for anti-HCV and HCV RNA on routine screening. Sample collection broke the code between donat...

BACKGROUND There has been continuing progress in measures to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted infection, including introduction of serologic tests of increased sensitivity and the recent implementation of investigational NAT in small pools of samples. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS Data relating to all blood donations to the American Red Cross have been consolidated into a single database...

BACKGROUND Testing of blood donors for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA by means of nucleic acid amplification was introduced in the United States as an investigational screening test in mid-1999 to identify donations made during the window period before seroconversion. METHODS We analyzed all antibody-nonreactive donations that were confirmed to be ...

Charities provide public benefits that are difficult to measure and often unverifiable for the donors, creating a one-sided information deficit. To diminish this information asymmetry, watchdog organizations provide donors with ratings of charities based on each charity’s financial performance. The information can increase donor awareness of individual charity performance and provide a metric o...

BACKGROUND Japanese Red Cross (JRC) blood centers implemented anti-hepatitis B core antigen (HBc) screening in 1989 and 50-minipool (MP)-nucleic acid testing (NAT) in 2000. A systematic lookback study has been conducted to determine the hepatitis B virus (HBV) transmission risk of donations drawn in the pre-hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and/or MP-NAT window phase and by donors with occult...

The images of suffering in the aftermath of disasters, particularly earthquakes, never fail to stimulate the greatest generosity among people. If cash is the donation preferred by a humanitarian organization, generally, a more person-alized contribution is favored by the public; be it food supplies, clothing, or the ultimate social gift—blood. Appeals for blood donations in the aftermath of a d...

The rate of organ donations from deceased donors in Malaysia is among the lowest in the world. This may be because of the passivity among health professionals in approaching families of potential donors. A questionnaire-based study was conducted amongst health professionals in two tertiary hospitals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Four hundred and sixty-two questionnaires were completed. 93.3% of he...

Background & objectives Transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs) are the major problem associated with blood transfusion. Accurate estimates of risk of TTIs are essential for monitoring the safety of blood supply. The present study was undertaken to determine the percentage of voluntary donors (VDs) and replacement donors (RDs) and also, to estimate and compare the seroprevalence and changing ...