Malaria Screening among Blood Donors in Non Endemic Malarial Regions: Role of Donor History Questionnaires and Rapid Malaria Diagnostic Test

Doaa Abdelbadie Salem¹ and Azza A Baiomy^2,

¹Parasitology, Mansoura Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Egypt

²Clinical Pathology, Mansoura Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Egypt

Cite this paper:
Doaa Abdelbadie Salem and Azza A Baiomy. Malaria Screening among Blood Donors in Non Endemic Malarial Regions: Role of Donor History Questionnaires and Rapid Malaria Diagnostic Test. American Journal of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology. 2016; 4(2):28-31. doi: 10.12691/ajidm-4-2-1

Abstract

Malaria is one of the most important parasitic diseases responsible for some cases of transfusion transmitted disease in the world. Malaria screening test of blood donor may increase the safety of blood donations. In response to the information about a Plasmodium vivax malaria outbreak in the Aswan Governorate in Egypt 2014 and in the absence of a licensed test for donor screening, our aim was to assess the value of malaria donor history questionnaires and rapid malaria diagnostic test in malaria screening among blood donors to increase the safety of blood donation. Out of two hundred and fifty two healthy blood donors attend the Mansoura University blood bank unit for blood donation, between July to August, 2015, twelve donors were deferred, one from a malaria endemic area and one with a history of travel to a malaria endemic area, the rest was deferred for other reasons. All donors were checked for weight, pulse rate, blood pressure, temperature, hemoglobin levels and malaria donor history questionnaires. Screening for malaria was done by Microscopic Examination of Thick Blood Films stained with diluted Giemsa stain and by using the individual rapid malaria test OptiMAL-IT (BIO-RAD, France) for all blood donor samples. No positive samples of blood donor volunteers were detected neither by microscopic examination, nor by rapid malaria test OptiMAL-IT. Our study support that, in a non endemic malaria region, donor deferral by malaria donor history questionnaires and screening of blood donors for malaria by using thick blood films or by rapid malaria test OptiMAL-IT is enough for safe blood donation, but clear guidelines are mandatory.

Keywords:
transfusion-transmitted malaria enzyme immunoassay donor’s risk

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	Garraud O. Mechanisms of transfusion-linked parasite infection. Transfus Clin Biol. 2006; 13:290.
[2]	Mungai M, Tegtmeier G, Chamberland M, Parise M. Transfusion-transmitted malaria in the United States from 1963 through 1999. N Engl J Med. 2001; 344:1973-8.
[3]	Frey-Wettstein M, Maier A, Markwalder K, and Munch U. A case of transfusion transmitted malaria in Switzerland. Swiss Med Wkly. 2001; (131): 320-320.
[4]	Bruneel F, Thellier M, Eloy O, Mazier D, Boulard G, Danis M, and B.J. P, Transfusion-transmitted malaria. Intensive Care Med. 2004; 30: 1851-1852.
[5]	Kitchen A, Mijovic A, and Hewitt P, Transfusion-transmitted malaria: current donor selection guidelines are not sufficient. Vox Sang. 2005; 88: 200-201.
[6]	Garfield MD, Ershler WB, Maki DG. Malaria transmission by platelet concentrate transfusion. JAMA. 1978; 240:2285-6.
[7]	Dover AS, Guinee VF. Malaria transmission by leukocyte component therapy. JAMA. 1971; 217:1701-2.
[8]	Najem GR, Sulzer AJ. Transfusion-induced malaria from an asymptomatic carrier. Transfusion. 1976; 16:473-6.
[9]	Wright RO, Lewander WJ and Woolf AD: Methemoglobinemia: etiology, pharmacology, and clinical management. Ann Emerg Med. 1999; 34:646-56.
[10]	Ash-Bernal R, Wise R and Wright SM: Acquired methemoglobinemia: a retrospective series of 138 cases at 2 teaching hospitals. Medicine (Baltimore). 2004; 83:265-73.
[11]	Food and Drug Administration, FDA Guidance for Industry: Recommendations for Donor Questioning, Deferral, Reentry and Product Management to Reduce the Risk of Transfusion-Transmitted Malaria, August 2013. http://www.fda.gov/cber//blood/bldguid.htm (Accessed on March 26, 2014).
[12]	Warhurst DC, Williams JE. Laboratory diagnosis of malaria: ACP Broadsheet No. 148. J Clin Pathol. 1996; 49: 533-538.
[13]	CDC. Malaria Outbreak in Egypt: Recommendations for Travelers.
[14]	D. Payne. Use and limitations of light microscopy for diagnosing malaria at the primary healthcare level. Bull World Health Organ. 1998; 66: 621-628.
[15]	Piper R, Lebras J, Wentworth L, Hunt-Cooke A, Houze S, Chiodini P and Makler M. Immunocapture diagnostic assays for malaria using Plasmodium lactate dehydrogenase (pLDH). Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1999; 60 (1): 109-18.
[16]	Puri B, Mehta P, Ingole NA; Prasad P and Mathure T. Laboratory tests for malaria: a diagnostic conundrum? S Afr Med J. 2013; 103: 625-7.
[17]	Benito A, Rubio JM. Usefulness of seminested polymerase chain reaction for screening blood donors at risk for malaria in Spain. Emerg Infect Dis. 2001; 7:1068.
[18]	Saad M Bin Dajem, Essam H. Ibrahim, Osama M. S. Mostafa1, Ali Alshehri, Mona Kilany, Ali A. Aljeamelani, Hala F. Hadish, Yasser A. Zahar, Abdulaziz A. Heijan. Introduction and Implementation of Non-Microscopic Method for Malaria Diagnosis Using OptiMAL IT into the Blood Donation Routine Test in Aseer Region, Saudi Arabia. Clinical Medicine and Diagnostics. 2014; 4(5): 99-105.