No 45 - 2024

Blood Donor Screening 2023

In 2023, 305,329 blood donations were screened. The number of positive donors is shown in Table 1.

For comparison, 307,535 blood donations were screened in 2022. Overall, there has been a noticeable decrease in the number of positive donors since Statens Serum Institut began reporting this number in 1989 (see Figure 1).

The Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Prevention has records of blood screening for HIV since 1986, and for hepatitis B and C since 1994, as shown in Figure 1.

HIV

No HIV-positive donors were identified in 2023.

Hepatitis B

In 2023, five individuals tested positive for hepatitis B. All were first-time donors. Two of the five were Eastern European immigrants infected at birth, and the remaining three were Danish and infected through sexual transmission.

Hepatitis C

In 2023, four individuals tested positive for hepatitis C. All were Danish first-time donors. Two of the four were infected through intravenous drug use, while the mode of transmission for the other two was unknown.

Commentary

The number and incidence of positive donors in Denmark remained very low in 2023. Since 2011, zero to one HIV-positive individuals have been identified each year among blood donors. Until March 2000, men were excluded from the donor corps if they had ever had sex with men. Subsequently, this was changed to allow men who have (had) sex with men to donate blood, as long as they have observed a quarantine period of four-months. These quarantine rules have now been changed, following advice from a working group led by the Danish Patient Safety Authority, and came into effect on July 1, 2024. Prospective, a quarantine period applies to all individuals who have had anal sex with a new partner within the last four months.

The Danish Patient Safety Authority publishes an annual Report on the Blood Product Area, which provides a more detailed description of the blood transfusion area.

(L.H. Holm, S. Cowan, M. Wessman, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Prevention)