Estimating the Effect of Discontinuing Universal Screening of Donated Blood for Zika Virus in the 50 U.S. States

• Published in: Annals of internal medicine Vol. 174; no. 5; pp. 728 - 730
• Main Author: Russell, W Alton
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American College of Physicians 01-05-2021
• Subjects: Donations; FDA approval; Medical screening; Mosquitoes; Zika virus; United States > US
• ISSN: 0003-4819; 1539-3704
• DOI: 10.7326/M20-6879

Most Zika infections are asymptomatic, but about 20% of infected persons develop mild febrile illness. Rarely, Zika can cause 2 serious complications: Guillain-Barre syndrome and congenital Zika syndrome, a pattern of devastating birth defects. The US Food and Drug Administration mandated universal screening of donated blood for Zika virus in 2016 and allowed mini-pooled testing beginning in 2018. A simulation study published in January 2019 estimated that serious complications due to transfusion-transmitted Zika (TT-Zika) were unlikely and that universal screening for Zika was not cost-effective during the first year of screening in the 50 states. To estimate the relationship between the rate of Zika-infectious donations and the rate of adverse outcomes due to TT-Zika in the 50 states without screening, and to estimate the 2018 cost-effectiveness of universal screening.