Two years' experience of implementing molecular screening of hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus and human immunodeficiency virus 1, 2 in Riyadh blood donors

"Transfusion-Transmitted Infections in the Era of COVID-19: Revisiting Blood Safety Practices"

“…Blood transfusion has a well-documented clinical significance in several medical scenarios such as severe anemia, massive blood loss caused by trauma, and major surgeries [1]. Blood transfusion helps in saving millions of lives every year; however, maintaining the safety of recipients remains challenging [2]. There has been a growing trend of transfusion globally; in 2012, 85 million transfusions were reported, which increased to 112.5 million by 2019, as reported by the World Health Organization [3].…”

“…In addition, convalescent plasma therapy has shown higher efficacy than other drugs in treating COVID-19 infection. Thus, appropriate screening should be The major challenge faced at present is the selection of appropriate donors from among all the donations because asymptomatic, and apparently healthy carriers are the main source of transmission of infection [2]. Having reported such a high prevalence of COVID-19 infections worldwide, its prevalence in donors is a public health alarm and a public health concern and warrants blood banks to rethink and revisit their screening procedure and protocols.…”