Swiss Transfusion SRC seeks to ensure the highest standard of safety for donors and patients. Among other tasks, this involves the regular monitoring of the effects of viral and other pathogens that could potentially be transmitted by blood.
Only one HIV-positive sample was detected in the screening tests performed for all blood donated in 2024 (2023: 1). The number of positive samples has ranged between zero and four for the past ten years. Four donations infected with hepatitis C (HCV) were detected in time last year (2023: 3). Testing for hepatitis B (HBV) in 2024 resulted in the detection and destruction of a total of 27 infected donations (2023: 25). There were also 64 cases of hepatitis E (HEV) detected in the context of blood donation (2023: 55). As of 1 November 2023, the same blood donation eligibility criteria apply nationwide in Switzerland, and these make no reference to sexual orientation. Despite this adjustment, figures remain at the level of previous years.
«While the newly emerging viral infectious diseases tend to be asymptomatic in healthy individuals, they pose growing problems for the blood donation system.»
Dr. med. Soraya Amar, Chief Medical Officer Blood Transfusion Service
An increase in cases of the human parvovirus B19 (322 cases) among blood donors was observed (2023: 72; 2022: 1). The outbreak began in 2023 and continued in 2024. We assume that face masks protected people against infection during the coronavirus pandemic, as the virus is transmitted by infected respiratory droplets. When the mask mandate was lifted in 2023, parvovirus B19 could spread more easily again. Sporadic and local epidemics occur in cycles, however, generally peaking every four to ten years.
Precise epidemiological data on the extent and course of the parvovirus B19 outbreak in Europe and Switzerland is not being collected. Swiss Transfusion SRC monitors the incidence of the virus from month to month, however. In this context, it has become apparent that the blood donation system’s contributions to the field of public health can include the early detection and recording of epidemiological events.
Swiss Transfusion SRC monitors developments relating to blood-borne diseases. When necessary, the organisation defines risk areas and takes steps to keep the blood donors and patients safe. For instance, individuals returning from travel to a risk area are required to wait for a certain period before they can donate blood. This temporary deferral can vary from one to several months depending on the country or region visited. Donors can use the online travel-check tool to find out about possible waiting periods.
The number of reported side effects from donating remained stable, with a total of 3,183 cases reported, corresponding to 11.2–12.2 blood donations with side effects for every 1,000 donation procedures. In the majority (92 per cent) of these cases, the side effects take the form of mild to very mild reactions that disappear quickly.
Swiss Transfusion SRC is committed to ensuring a high level of safety for patients and donors. The SRC Humanitarian Foundation supports two new research projects on the subjects of cryobanking and arboviruses.
The demand for red blood cell concentrates with rare blood groups or blood group combinations is expected to increase in the future driven by advances in medicine and the increasing ethnic differentiation among the population. The aim of cryo-blood-banking is to enable red blood cell concentrates to be stored for longer periods, so that rare blood products of this kind can be provided more quickly and more efficiently to patients who need them.
The geographic ranges of mosquitoes and ticks that can transmit diseases are changing, encouraged by climate change and the global transport of goods. Moreover, some of these arthropods have become established in Switzerland. While the newly emerging viral infectious diseases tend to be asymptomatic in healthy individuals, they pose growing problems for the blood donation system. To inform the assessment of the risks for blood transfusion recipients, this project will determine the frequency of new viral infectious diseases in blood donors in Switzerland and test out possible surveillance strategies.
Hepatitis C positive blood units detected in time
First-time donorsRegular donors
Hepatitis B positive blood units detected in time
First-time donorsRegular donors
HIV-positive blood units detected in time
First-time donorsRegular donors
HEV-positive blood units detected in time
First-time donorsRegular donors
4
3 (2023)
hepatitis C positive blood donations detected in time
25
25 (2023)
hepatitis B positive blood donations detected in time
1
1 (2023)
HIV-positive blood donations detected in time
64
55 (2023)
units of HEV-positive blood detected in time