Malaria Screening among Blood Donors in Non Endemic Malarial Regions: Role of Donor History Questionnaires and Rapid Malaria Diagnostic Test

Abstract

Malaria is one of the most important parasitic diseases responsible for some cases of transfusion transmitted disease in the world. Malaria screening test of blood donor may increase the safety of blood donations. In response to the information about a Plasmodium vivax malaria outbreak in the Aswan Governorate in Egypt 2014 and in the absence of a licensed test for donor screening, our aim was to assess the value of malaria donor history questionnaires and rapid malaria diagnostic test in malaria screening among blood donors to increase the safety of blood donation. Out of two hundred and fifty two healthy blood donors attend the Mansoura University blood bank unit for blood donation, between July to August, 2015, twelve donors were deferred, one from a malaria endemic area and one with a history of travel to a malaria endemic area, the rest was deferred for other reasons. All donors were checked for weight, pulse rate, blood pressure, temperature, hemoglobin levels and malaria donor history questionnaires. Screening for malaria was done by Microscopic Examination of Thick Blood Films stained with diluted Giemsa stain and by using the individual rapid malaria test OptiMAL-IT (BIO-RAD, France) for all blood donor samples. No positive samples of blood donor volunteers were detected neither by microscopic examination, nor by rapid malaria test OptiMAL-IT. Our study support that, in a non endemic malaria region, donor deferral by malaria donor history questionnaires and screening of blood donors for malaria by using thick blood films or by rapid malaria test OptiMAL-IT is enough for safe blood donation, but clear guidelines are mandatory.