Threat of Dengue to Blood Safety in Dengue-Endemic Countries
Annelies Wilder‐Smitha b c✉, Lin Hwei Chend e f g h i j, Eduardo Massadf g h i j k l, Mary Elizabeth Wilsond e f g h i j
- aDepartment of Medicine, National University Singapore, Singapore. epvws@pacific.net.sg
- bDepartment of Medicine, National University Singapore
- cSingapore
- dHarvard School of Public Health , Boston (M.E. Wilson)
- eMount Auburn Hospital , Cambridge , Mas - sachusetts , USA
- fHarvard School of Public Health, Boston (M.E. Wilson)
- gMount Auburn Hospital, Cambridge, Mas-sachusetts, USA
- hNational University Singapore, Singapore (A. Wilder-Smith)
- iHarvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- jUniversity of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- kaffi liations : National University Singapore , Singapore (A. Wilder-Smith)
- lHarvard Medical School , Boston , Massachusetts , USA
- ✉Corresponding author
Papers open inside SciRah from the original publisher or repository; SciRah never hosts them.
Abstract
Dengue, the most common arbovirus infection globally, is transmitted by mosquito vectors. Healthcare-related transmission, including transmission by blood products, has been documented, although the frequency of these occurrences is unknown. Dengue is endemic to Singapore, a city-state in Asia. Using mathematical modeling, we estimated the risk for dengue-infected blood transfusions in Singapore in 2005 to be 1.625-6/10,000 blood transfusions, assuming a ratio of asymptomatic to symptomatic infections of 2:1 to 10:1. However, the level of viremia required to cause clinical dengue cases is person-dependent and unknown. Further studies are needed to establish the magnitude of the threat that dengue poses to blood safety in countries where it is endemic. It will then be possible after this information is obtained to assess whether screening is feasible and to identify approaches that are most cost-effective on the basis of characteristics of local populations and seasonality of dengue.