No 19 - 2020

Blood donor screening 2019

2019 saw a total of 282,227 screened blood donations. No HIV-positive donors were found in 2019. For hepatitis B and C, respectively, fewer than five persons were found. This number is so low that the findings are not described.

In March 2020, new provisions came into force on safety in connection with blood donation.

According to the new provisions, men who have sex with men (MSM) may serve as blood donors provided they observe a four-month quarantine period with no anal or oral sex with another man. This is in line with the quarantine period in place for other risk activities (piercing, sex with a sex worker, sex with a person from Africa, Asia, South or Central America, etc.).

It is estimated that the quarantine period is sufficiently long to ensure that all cases of HIV, hepatitis B or hepatitis C will be detected in the blood screening performed at all blood donations.

(A.K. Hvass, S. Cowan, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Prevention)