No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

BackgroundThis is the first study on the blood donation trend in Iran at a national level. We report different characteristics of blood donation such as demographic status, donor type, donation trend, and geographical distribution of blood donation in Iran between 2003 and 2017.MethodsThis study used data registered in the donor vigilance part of the Iranian Blood Transfusion Organization. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) and ArcMap GIS version 10.2 software. A P-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsBased on the study results, blood donation in Iran reached >2 million units in 2017; moreover, it is predicted that Iran will achieve >29 donations per 1,000 population in 2022. The proportion of regular and repeated donors increased from 77% in 2013 to 87% in 2017. The average blood donation rate in seven provinces was higher than the national average, and the average growth rate of their blood donation per population was positive.ConclusionThe results of the current study showed that there is a recent increasing trend toward blood donation in Iran. Furthermore, the largest share of donations is related to regular donors. The increasing proportion of regular and repeated donors has led to the improvement in the quality and consequently health level of donated blood.

Background: Mass screening for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) began in Iran on March 23, 2020, with the purpose of improving early detection of patients for their own health and to prevent onward transmission to others. In this study, we evaluated the impact of the change towards mass screening on new cases reported, cases recovered, and deaths due to COVID-19. Methods: This study analyzed the daily reports on the number of new cases confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, cases recovered, and deaths due to COVID-19 provided to the Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran. Changes in trends on these outcomes were evaluated using interrupted time series analysis. Results: From February 19 to May 6, 2020, a total of 519544 COVID-19 tests were done and 101650 diagnoses were made (case/ test ratio 19.6%). For the same period, 6418 deaths due to COVID-19 were reported (case fatality ratio 6.3%). The number of cases detected increased significantly over the period of scale-up of mass screening (P=0.003), as did the number of recovered cases (P=0.001). The number of deaths due to COVID-19 did not change before versus after mass screening. Conclusion: Following the scale-up of mass screening for COVID-19 in Iran, the rate of new cases detected and reported recovered accelerated significantly. Mass screening is likely to have detected many mild and asymptomatic cases that were infectious. Our data support the role that mass screening, coupled with isolation and contract tracing, can have in slowing the COVID-19 epidemic.