Читать книгу Transfusion Medicine - Jeffrey McCullough - Страница 63

It is important to understand donors’ behavior that might increase their likelihood of transmitting disease. Compared with the general population, it appears that donors have fewer sex partners, less frequent sexual experiences, fewer homosexual experiences in males, and are less likely to engage in behavior that puts them at risk for transfusion‐transmissible diseases, although about 1.5% report some kind of risk behavior [19]. In one study, 8% of young “potential” donors tested positive for drugs of abuse [20], but because these were not actual donors, it is not clear whether this experience would apply to blood donors.

As the prevalence of tattooing and other body modifications has increased, a study in the Netherlands by Prinsze et al. [21] reviewed the risks of transfusion‐transmitted infection after tattooing and other needle‐related events. These donors (if deferred) often show low return rates to donation. The authors also demonstrated that donors who reported a tattoo, body piercing, or acupuncture showed no higher risks for transfusion‐transmitted infections [21].