niman Posted October 21, 2016 Report Share Posted October 21, 2016 The FDA has confirmed to CBS4 News that donated units of blood in Florida have tested positive for the Zika virus. http://miami.cbslocal.com/2016/10/20/more-zika-tainted-blood-in-florida/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niman Posted October 21, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2016 More Zika-Tainted Blood In Florida October 20, 2016 6:58 PM By Gary Nelson Filed Under: Gary Nelson, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Zika Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter MIAMI (CBSMiami) — The FDA has confirmed to CBS4 News that donated units of blood in Florida have tested positive for the Zika virus. The FDA will not say where or when the tainted blood was discovered, but it is the first since one unit of Zika-infected blood was discovered at an undisclosed donation center in August. Dr. Aileen Marty, a world renowned researcher at Florida International University, says there is good news and bad news in the FDA’s revelations. “Finding it before it is used is very good, because that means we’re doing the right thing, we’re trying to verify whether there are any contaminated bloods before they are given,” she said. But Marty, who is working with a variety of health care agencies on the Zika crisis, worries about the accuracy of the experimental tests being used to detect Zika. She’s concerned about their reliability and the possibility of infected blood getting through. “Just because the test is negative doesn’t necessarily mean that the blood is pure until you have double tested it with a different testing method to be sure that it is, in fact, free of Zika,” Marty said. The three tests being used to screen for Zika in donated blood are not licensed by the FDA, but have been allowed into service on an emergency basis. An FDA spokesperson declined to discuss the screening protocols being used by testing labs, and how many are or are not using the double testing procedure, that Dr. Marty says has been recommended by the Centers For Disease Control. http://miami.cbslocal.com/2016/10/20/more-zika-tainted-blood-in-florida/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter MIAMI (CBSMiami) — The FDA has confirmed to CBS4 News that donated units of blood in Florida have tested positive for the Zika virus. The FDA will not say where or when the tainted blood was discovered, but it is the first since one unit of Zika-infected blood was discovered at an undisclosed donation center in August. Dr. Aileen Marty, a world renowned researcher at Florida International University, says there is good news and bad news in the FDA’s revelations. “Finding it before it is used is very good, because that means we’re doing the right thing, we’re trying to verify whether there are any contaminated bloods before they are given,” she said. But Marty, who is working with a variety of health care agencies on the Zika crisis, worries about the accuracy of the experimental tests being used to detect Zika. She’s concerned about their reliability and the possibility of infected blood getting through. “Just because the test is negative doesn’t necessarily mean that the blood is pure until you have double tested it with a different testing method to be sure that it is, in fact, free of Zika,” Marty said. The three tests being used to screen for Zika in donated blood are not licensed by the FDA, but have been allowed into service on an emergency basis. An FDA spokesperson declined to discuss the screening protocols being used by testing labs, and how many are or are not using the double testing procedure, that Dr. Marty says has been recommended by the Centers For Disease Control. http://miami.cbslocal.com/2016/10/20/more-zika-tainted-blood-in-florida/
niman Posted October 21, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2016 "" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-width: 100%; border: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;"> Zika virus has been detected in units of donated blood in Florida, but testing of individual donations, which will start soon in Washington state, kept the virus out of the blood supply. Share story By JoNel Aleccia Seattle Times health reporter Zika virus has been detected in units of donated blood in Florida, federal health officials said Tuesday. But the number so far is small, and new testing in high-risk areas kept the virus from entering the U.S. blood supply. Food and Drug Administration officials confirmed that “a few” units of donated blood tested positive in Florida, the first state with local mosquito transmission of Zika virus, which causes devastating birth defects and other problems. “A few additional potential positive donations are also currently under investigation,” Tara Goodin, an FDA spokeswoman, said in an email. Featured Video Music performed in the Hoh Rainforest (3:46) Most Read Stories 2,000 Seattle teachers wear ‘Black Lives Matter’ shirts to class VIEW The great debate: Did Trump say ‘bigly’ or ‘big league’? (Poll) WATCH Seahawks Richard Sherman thinks NFL intentionally edited highlight video of Atlanta's final play WATCH Port Angeles woman accused of sexual contact with boy, dog Trump mocks critics: I'll accept election results — if I win WATCH Unlimited Digital Access. $1 for 4 weeks. The virus was detected by screening each collected unit using FDA-approved investigational tests. The FDA would not say exactly how many units tested positive, or when and where those donations were collected. Goodin referred questions to firms that make or supply the tests: Hologic, Grifols and Roche. Company officials either did not respond or could not provide details. It’s the first report of multiple positive tests in a U.S. state. The FDA in August said one donated unit of blood in Florida had tested positive for Zika virus and was removed from the blood supply, Such results were expected eventually, said Dr. James AuBuchon, president and chief executive of Bloodworks Northwest, a Seattle blood-collection agency. “It wouldn’t be surprising,” he said. “That’s why the testing began.” Zika virus is primarily spread by mosquitoes but can be spread through sex and blood transfusions. In Puerto Rico, about 1 percent of blood donations tested positive for the virus, federal officials said. In Florida, blood donations were halted in July in Miami-Dade and Broward counties until Zika testing could begin. FDA officials in August called for all U.S. blood centers to begin screening for Zika virus. States at high risk for local mosquito transmission of the virus, including Florida, were first urged to test individual units of donated blood, followed by states like Washington, which are at lower risk. The FDA set a Nov. 18 deadline. AuBuchon on Monday criticized the American Red Cross for a plan to delay testing of individual units in low-risk areas. Instead, they’ll rely on testing pooled units of blood in those regions until the end of the year. Such pooled testing may fail to detect up to 25 percent of Zika-infected blood, AuBuchon said. “This shows that the individual donation testing protocol does work, it does pick up potentially infectious units,” AuBuchon said. “If you’re going to do the testing, you should do it right.” http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/zika-virus-detected-in-a-few-units-of-donor-blood-in-florida/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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