Romanian blood donors screening: is it really necessary and/or mandatory?

Blood services are required to provide the safest possible products, but no transfusion can ever be totally free of the risk of transfusion transmissible infections (TTI). Over the past decade, the risk of TTI through transfusion has been reduced (e.g. 1 in 300 000 for HBV to 1 in 2 million for HIV). With the introduction in 1999 of sensitive and expensive nucleic acid testing (NAT) technology in some countries, the disease transmission rate and the window period have been significantly reduced, but a remaining concern is the chance that a blood donor will be infected and not detected by such tests. To obtain safe blood and blood components it is important to ensure that the donors are healthy and free from TTI by using a donor selection procedure meticulously made, using a donor questionnaire to assess donor health and safety and for reducing the risk of transmission of infection, in particular for infections for which no suitable screening tests are available. In Romania the prevalence of TTI among donor population is high in comparison with other European Union (EU) countries. This may require significant improvements in the screening process of both donors and donations to minimize the infectious risk.