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Our paper looking at #malaria in Ugandan blood donors is out in Transfusion. We tested 1000 samples from two sites in Uganda and found 15.4% of asymptomatic blood donors had malaria parasitemia. @AABB https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/trf.15775">https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/1...
Most infections were P. falciparum, but we also detected a number of mixed infections. We were surprised to find three donors with quadruple infections (P. falciparum, P. malariae, P. ovale curtisi, P. ovale walikeri)! No P. vivax detected.
This has important public health implications as transfusion is a critical therapy for severe anemia. Severe anemia related to malaria is a common reason for transfusion in sub-Saharan Africa, and transfusion transmitted malaria can compromise recovery and increase mortality.
A study evaluating risk factors for recurrent severe anemia in Ugandan children from Jinja identified malaria after transfusion as a risk factor for recurrent anemia. https://bmcpediatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12887-019-1398-6">https://bmcpediatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/... Note: it did not differentiate between transfusion-transmitted malaria and new infection.
This study highlights the need for strategies to prevent transfusion transmitted malaria. Due to critical shortages in blood supply in many settings, testing blood and discarding infected units is endemic areas is problematic and would exacerbate shortages.
Another option is to treat blood units or recipients with antimalarials. Targeted malaria chemoprevention at discharge in high risk individuals is one strategy to reduce the risk of transfusion transmitted malaria and reinfection in vulnerable individuals. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6220494/">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/artic...
Pathogen reduction technology is another promising approach to prevent transfusion transmitted infections by broadly inactivating pathogens. The advantage is it can work against different classes of pathogens, and mitigate the risk of infection by new or emerging pathogens. 
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Studies are currently underway to assess the feasibility, efficacy and cost of implementing pathogen reduction technologies in Uganda. This could be an important tool in our arsenal to reduce the burden of malaria in endemic countries.
Thanks to our amazing collaborators @JohnsHopkinsSPH @JHUPath, Uganda Blood Transfusion Services, the CHILD lab @GHU_Official team ( @ivanmufumba @wasswar), and Kristin Murphy (who isn& #39;t on Twitter yet) for taking the lead. This officially our *first* CHILD lab publication https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🎊" title="Confetti ball" aria-label="Emoji: Confetti ball">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🥂" title="Clinking glasses" aria-label="Emoji: Clinking glasses"> https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🙏" title="Folded hands" aria-label="Emoji: Folded hands">
And finally, thanks to @ChandyJohnLab and lab members @DibyaDatta, @KatrinaECo @AdnanGopinadhan and Giselle Lima-Cooper for their molecular expertise!
@womeninmalaria @WiParasitology @TransfusionNews @iupedsID @IUWellsCenter @pbangirana @IUGlobalHealth
@womeninmalaria @WiParasitology @TransfusionNews @iupedsID @IUWellsCenter @pbangirana @IUGlobalHealth
