Switzerland to Remove Donor Deferrals Related to vCJD Risk

Swissmedic, Switzerland’s national health regulatory authority, approved a request from Swiss Transfusion SRC this week to update blood donor eligibility criteria related to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). The decision follows a comprehensive, expert-led reassessment of the country’s current donor deferral policies.

Effective Feb. 1, the Swiss Transfusion SRC will lift the indefinite deferral for donors who have received a blood transfusion in the past, spent six months or more in the United Kingdom between 1980 and 1996, underwent a neurosurgical procedure in Switzerland, or received dental implants in Switzerland after 1993. Shorter deferral periods will still apply following neurosurgical procedures and dental implants.

Additional information is available on the Swiss Transfusion SRC website.