Epidemiology of Blood Collection in France

• Published in: European journal of epidemiology 1999-03, Vol.15 (3), p.285-292
• Main Authors: Lawson-Ayayi, S., Salmi, L. R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Anesthesia. Intensive care medicine. Transfusions. Cell therapy and gene therapy; Antibodies; Antigens; Apheresis; Bacterial infections; Biological and medical sciences; Blood; Blood & organ donations; Blood banks; Blood donation; Blood Donors - statistics & numerical data; Blood products; Blood specimen collection; Blood. Blood and plasma substitutes. Blood products. Blood cells. Blood typing. Plasmapheresis. Apheresis; Communicable Disease Control - statistics & numerical data; Community Participation - statistics & numerical data; Consumer Product Safety; Cross-Sectional Studies; Disease risk; Epidemiology; Female; France - epidemiology; General aspects; Humans; Infections; Infectious diseases; Malaria; Male; Medical sciences; Men; Patient assessment; Patient Selection; Planification. Prevention (methods). Intervention. Evaluation; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Recruitment; Risk factors; Risk Management - statistics & numerical data; Statistics as Topic; Syphilis; Transfusions. Complications. Transfusion reactions. Cell and gene therapy; Vector-borne diseases; Volunteer military; Volunteerism; Volunteers
• ISSN: 0393-2990; 1573-7284
• DOI: 10.1023/A:1007594716912

The objectives of the cross-sectional study (EpiCoS) were to describe, at different stages, volunteers offering their blood, and to characterize various ways of collecting blood. From 15 September 1996 to 31 December 1996, individuals presenting at fixed or mobile sessions in one of 11 randomly selected blood banks were included after they had a medical examination. Variables studied were relative to type of collection, individuals, medical examination, patterns of blood letting, use of collected donations and if unused, reasons for discarding. Sixty four thousand and ninety two volunteers, aged 17-66 years old were included. The proportion of exclusion during medical examination was 10.8% (95% confidence interval (CI): 10.6-11.0%). Exclusions were more frequent among new volunteers and were mostly related to the safety of recipients. Most of the 57,003 donations were whole blood (94.0%) and collected in mobile sessions (89.9%). Five percent of collected donations were discarded; 3.5% (95% CI: 3.4-3.7%) of donations discarded for biological abnormalities, including 1.5% only for initial screen reactions to infectious disease markers (HBs antigen, anti-HBc antibodies, anti-HCV antibodies, anti-HIV antibodies, anti-HTLV antibodies, malaria antibodies and anti-syphilitic antibodies). The most frequent biological abnormality was a high alanine aminotransferase level. A follow-up of these indicators, within the French haemovigilance system, should allow further identification of risk factors and highrisk contexts, and planning means of optimizing blood collection in France.