As U.S. blood banks begin testing for the Zika virus, early results are showing that it remains rare, according to a recent report from The New York Times.
All blood banks in the U.S. will be required to begin testing donated blood for contamination of the virus. About 800,000 blood donations have already been tested within the last six months, and only about 40 of them were initially positive for Zika.
“It is good news that we are avoiding the transmission of Zika,” said Susan Rossmann, MD, the chief medical officer at Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center in Houston.
Blood donations are screen by Roche Molecular System. By the end of last week, Roche had screened 475,000 donations in the U.S., and just 25 had signs of Zika. The testing excluded Puerto Rico, the U.S. territory where outbreaks have been the most prominent.
To read more about the testing initiatives, follow the link below.
Senior Writer
As a Senior Writer for TriMed Media Group, Katherine primarily focuses on producing news stories, Q&As and features for Cardiovascular Business. She reports on several facets of the cardiology industry, including emerging technology, new clinical trials and findings, and quality initiatives among providers. She is based out of TriMed's Chicago office and holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Columbia College Chicago. Her work has appeared in Modern Healthcare, Crain's Chicago Business and The Detroit News. She joined TriMed in 2016.