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Babesia microti in a Canadian blood donor and lookback in a red blood cell recipient
Steven J Drews1,2, Paul Van Caeseele3, Jared Bullard3
1Microbiology, Donation Policy and Studies, Canadian Blood Services, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Background And Objectives:
We describe the third documented case of autochthonous human babesiosis in Canada and the second in a Canadian blood donor.
Materials And Methods:
Multiple laboratory investigations were carried out on the donor and the immunocompromised recipient of an associated, potentially infectious red blood cell product.
Results:
The donor had not travelled except for outdoor exposure in south-eastern Manitoba, followed by illness and hospital admission. The donor had a notable parasitaemia, positive for Babesia microti using whole blood nucleic acid testing (NAT). The recipient was negative for B. microti by both serology and NAT.
Conclusion:
There was no evidence of transfusion-transmitted babesiosis.
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