Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/699873
t m c » p u l s e | j u ly 2 0 1 6 33 Sometimes when people hear blood and a virus in the same sentence, they naturally connect them. We're doing this to be very proactive, but there's no reason at this time to think there is any Zika in the American blood supply. — SUSAN ROSSMANN, M.D. Chief Medical Officer of The Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center yellow fever. At the time of press, there were six travel-associated cases of Zika in Houston, according to the Houston Health Department, but over recent years there's been evidence of locally acquired dengue and chikungunya, as well. "We want to be highly vigilant by doing things like testing in our case," Rossmann said. "Obviously, our first goal is to keep the blood supply safe. Of course, if somebody has contracted Zika and doesn't know it, we would be able to keep it out of the blood supply. Beyond that, it will be of interest, if there is Zika in the community, to see where it is and possibly how it spreads, how people get Zika, etc." As the primary supplier of blood in the local area, providing blood dona- tions for more than 170 hospitals and health care facilities across 26 counties in the Texas Gulf Coast region, main- taining the integrity of the blood supply is of the utmost importance for The Blood Center. "Sometimes when people hear blood and a virus in the same sentence, they naturally connect them," Rossmann said. "We're doing this to be very proac- tive, but there's no reason at this time to think there is any Zika in the American blood supply." Using Roche's in vitro nucleic acid screening test, The Blood Center is able to apply small amounts of human blood donor samples to the assay. Once the blood sample supply is prepared, it goes through a fully automated polymerase chain reaction process that amplifies the pieces of the Zika virus RNA to make thousands to millions of copies to determine whether or not the blood is infected. "There is a humongous amount that we don't know. We do know that a lot of people who have Zika […] don't have any symptoms or signs, and that's what is worrisome for us," Rossmann added. "When people go to give blood, they are normally healthy and well. It's the first question we ask them, but if they could have something and still feel well, that would be a concern for us and that's why we're doing the test." The blood testing is currently part of The Blood Center's ongoing pro- tocol and has been integrated into its standardized blood-testing process. Rossmann said she and her team plan to continue testing through the summertime, when mosquitoes are at their peak. "We don't know yet over the mos- quito season what Zika is going to do both in the Houston area and in the country. That's going to determine what kind of response we will have," Rossmann said. "We'll just have to see what the situation looks like if we start seeing cases that are spread by mosquitoes in our region. The testing should protect the blood supply in that situation, but it certainly would lead us to want to continue to do the testing." In addition to the blood testing, The Blood Center is also deferring people who have recently traveled to Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America within the past 28 days, as well as women who have had sexual contact with someone who has been infected with the Zika virus. As part of The Blood Center's protocol, it is working with local health departments by sharing epidemio- logical information and reporting its findings to health officials. Should any positive cases arise, Rossmann and her team will notify those donors to ensure they are aware of the infection and can seek proper treatment.