SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome)
Severe acute respiratory syndrome — or SARS — is a respiratory infection that can develop serious complications. Most of the cases identified have been in Asia, but there have been cases in other countries, including the United States and Canada.
There has been no evidence this infection is transmitted from blood donors to transfusion recipients, but the virus associated with SARS is present in the blood of people who are sick, and it is possible that the virus could be present in blood immediately before a person gets sick, so that an individual with infection but no symptoms possibly could transmit SARS through a blood donation.
To help determine whether or not an individual might be infected with SARS, a blood collection facility will ask a potential donor orally or in writing about any travel to a SARS-affected country or a history of SARS or possible exposure to SARS.
Because the risk of contracting SARS through a blood transfusion theoretically exists, anyone who might be at risk of being infected with SARS is requested not to donate blood for an interval of time called a deferral period. The individual is said to be “deferred.”
Who will be deferred?
- Anyone who has traveled or lived in a SARS-affected area*, will be deferred from making a donation for a period of 14 days after arrival in the United States.
- Anyone who has had close contact with a person with SARS or suspected SARS, will be deferred for 14 days after the last exposure to that individual. Close contact is defined as having cared for, having lived with, or having had direct contact with respiratory secretions and/or body fluids of a person known to have, or to have had, SARS or suspected of having, or having had, the illness.
- Anyone who has been ill with SARS or suspected SARS, will be deferred for 28 days from the last date of treatment AND the last date that the individual had symptoms.
Please note that as long as a donor is and remains well, no other measures are necessary. If a donor becomes ill with fever of 100.4o F accompanied by cough or trouble breathing, that person should see a doctor. Also, any donor who develops a fever in the 14 days after making a donation should call the blood center.
- Information about the definition of SARS cases and the identification of SARS-affected areas are updated regularly. This information is posted on the CDC web site http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/casedefinition.htm or may be obtained by calling the CDC at (888)246-2675, 8 am –11 pm weekdays, 10 am – 8 pm weekends. Information is also posted in the AABB "News and Media" section.
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