LymeNet Flash: Babesiosis- Donor Blood Transfusions

This is topic Babesiosis- Donor Blood Transfusions in forum Medical Questions at LymeNet Flash.

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Posted by Tincup (Member # 5829) on :

QUOTE- "Babesia microti... is responsible for over 200 reported cases of transfusion-transmitted babesiosis (TTB).

Blood donation samples from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Minnesota, and Wisconsin were tested...

Screening of 506,540 donations (June 2012-May 2018) yielded 1299 reactives..."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30499595

Posted by lightfoot (Member # 2536) on :

Wow!! This is something that has been on my mind for a long time. I'm sure it's not just babs!!

Posted by Alisandne (Member # 27304) on :

It's been known for some time that babesia is in the public blood supply. I did a story on it when I was a newspaper reporter. At that time (and probably still) there was no practical way to test for it.

As Lightfoot said, one wonders what else could be in donated blood.