Seroprevalence of Antibodies to Ross River and Barmah Forest Viruses: Possible Implications for Blood Transfusion Safety After Extreme Weather Events

Helen Faddy; Melanie Dunford; Clive Seed; Andrew Olds; David Harley; Melinda Dean; Vanessa Racloz; Suzi McCarthy; David Smith; Robert Flower

doi:10.1007/s10393-014-1005-0

Seroprevalence of Antibodies to Ross River and Barmah Forest Viruses: Possible Implications for Blood Transfusion Safety After Extreme Weather Events

Ecohealth. 2015 Jun;12(2):347-53. doi: 10.1007/s10393-014-1005-0. Epub 2014 Dec 24.

Authors

Helen Faddy^{1

2}, Melanie Dunford^{3

4}, Clive Seed⁵, Andrew Olds⁶, David Harley⁷, Melinda Dean³, Vanessa Racloz⁸, Suzi McCarthy⁹, David Smith^{9

10}, Robert Flower^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Research and Development, Australian Red Cross Blood Service, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. hfaddy@redcrossblood.org.au.
² School of Biomedical Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. hfaddy@redcrossblood.org.au.
³ Research and Development, Australian Red Cross Blood Service, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
⁴ School of Biomedical Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
⁵ Medical Services, Australian Red Cross Blood Service, Perth, WA, Australia.
⁶ School of Science and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD, Australia.
⁷ National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
⁸ School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
⁹ Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, PathWest Laboratory Medicine WA, Nedlands, WA, Australia.
¹⁰ School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA, Australia.

PMID: 25537629
DOI: 10.1007/s10393-014-1005-0

Abstract

Climate change is predicted to increase the transmission of many vector-borne pathogens, representing an increasing threat to a safe blood supply. In early 2011, Australia experienced catastrophic rainfall and flooding, coupled with increased arbovirus transmission. We used Ross River (RRV) and Barmah Forest (BFV) viruses as test cases to investigate the potential risk posed to Australia's blood supply after this period of increased rainfall . We estimated the risk of collecting an infected donation as one in 2,500-58,000 for RRV and one in 2,000-28,000 for BFV. Climate change may incrementally increase the arbovirus threat to blood safety.

Keywords: arbovirus; blood donor; climate; rainfall; risk; safety; transfusion.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Alphavirus / isolation & purification*
Alphavirus Infections / epidemiology*
Animals
Australia / epidemiology
Blood Donors / statistics & numerical data*
Female
Humans
Insect Vectors
Male
Middle Aged
Rain*
Ross River virus / isolation & purification*
Seroepidemiologic Studies