Accuracy of a history of blood donation from surrogate witnesses: data from the UK TMER study

J M Mackenzie; M Turner; K Morris; S Field; A M Molesworth; S Pal; R G Will; C A Llewelyn; P E Hewitt

doi:10.1111/vox.12661

Accuracy of a history of blood donation from surrogate witnesses: data from the UK TMER study

Vox Sang. 2018 May 15;113(5):489-491. doi: 10.1111/vox.12661. Online ahead of print.

Authors

J M Mackenzie¹, M Turner², K Morris³, S Field⁴, A M Molesworth¹, S Pal¹, R G Will¹, C A Llewelyn⁵, P E Hewitt⁶

Affiliations

¹ National CJD Research & Surveillance Unit, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK.
² Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, The Jack Copland Centre, Edinburgh, UK.
³ Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service, Headquarters (City Hospital Complex), Belfast, UK.
⁴ Welsh Blood Service, Talbot Green, Pontyclun, UK.
⁵ NHS Blood and Transplant, Cambridge Centre, Cambridge, UK.
⁶ NHS Blood and Transplant, Colindale Centre, London, UK.

Abstract

Look-back studies of blood transfusion in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease commonly rely on reported history from surrogate witnesses. Data from the UK Transfusion Medicine Epidemiology Review have been analysed to determine the accuracy of the blood donation history provided by the relatives of cases. Our results show that only a small percentage of cases were found to be registered as donors on UK Blood Service (UKBS) databases when there was no family report of blood donation. In contrast, a history of reported donation was less accurate.

Keywords: donors; epidemiology; prions.