National Blood Center: "No ban on West Nile donations, just more testing."

In all the provinces where the virus is circulating, the NAT (Nucleic Acid Test) test is performed on donors, a very precise analysis that allows the detection of a pathogen even in totally asymptomatic patients.

There's no ban on blood donations—in fact, they're even more welcome during this summer period, when there are usually shortages—due to West Nile virus outbreaks. Just increased screening. In all provinces where the virus is circulating, donors are being tested for the virus using the NAT (Nucleic Acid Test). This highly precise test can detect the virus's genetic material—highlighting its presence—even in completely asymptomatic patients, the National Blood Center (CNS) explained to Adnkronos Salute, once again emphasizing the safety of transfusions in our country and the high level of screening of collected blood.

Any temporary suspensions of 28 days, it is specified, can only apply to donors from an area affected by the virus who travel to donate in unaffected areas where testing has not yet been implemented. However, these are sporadic cases, the CNS reiterates. West Nile virus is not new to the blood system, which annually monitors the situation and implements appropriate controls in all at-risk areas. In the event of each case, all blood bags collected in the affected geographic areas are tested with the NAT test. Over the years, it is noted that the number of donors testing positive for the virus has consistently been very low.