Florida blood bank, OneBlood, temporarily suspends blood donations from Martin and St. Lucie Counties due to dengue fever

The Treasure Coast counties of Martin and St. Lucie Counties have reported as of last week, at least 15 cases of locally acquired dengue fever (With a update scheduled today, the case count is likely higher).

Blood donation
Image/ Waldszenen at en.wikipedia

This has prompted the Florida-cased blood collection agency, OneBlood, to temporarily suspending blood collection operations in Martin and St. Lucie counties in Southeast Florida until further notice.

“Safety of the blood supply is our number one priority,” said Dr. Rita Reik, Chief Medical Officer for OneBlood.  “We will resume blood collections in Martin and St. Lucie counties once it is determined the threat of Dengue Fever has been minimized,” Reik said.

Blood collections in other areas of OneBlood’s service area remain operational.  The blood center urges people living in areas not impacted by Dengue Fever to please donate and help ensure safe and available blood for local hospitals and their patients.

LISTEN: Dengue fever in Florida: A few words with Martin County Environmental Health Director, Bob Washam

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports “In rare cases dengue can be transmitted in organ transplants or blood transfusions from infected donors.”

More information on transmission of dengue via blood transfusions:

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/15/1/07-1097_article.htm

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2713854/

According to the Martin and St. Lucie County Departments of Health, dengue Fever (pronounced den’ gee) is a disease transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected mosquito, not person to person.

In the Western Hemisphere, the Aedes aegypti (pronounced edis egyp-tie) mosquito is the main transmitter of dengue viruses. In some cases, the Aedes albopictus mosquito has also transmitted the disease. Both of these mosquitoes are found in large numbers in Martin and St. Lucie Counties. It is estimated that there are over 100 million cases of dengue worldwide each year.

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