Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Viremia in Presymptomatic Blood Donors in the Delta and Omicron Variant Eras

Paula Saá; Rebecca V Fink; Hina Dawar; Clara Di Germanio; Leilani Montalvo; David J Wright; David E Krysztof; Steven H Kleinman; Theresa Nester; Debra A Kessler; Rebecca L Townsend; Bryan R Spencer; Hany Kamel; Jackie Vannoy; Michael P Busch; Susan L Stramer; Mars Stone; Philip J Norris; NHLBI Recipient Epidemiology and Donor Evaluation Study-IV-Pediatric (REDS-IV-P)

doi:10.1093/ofid/ofad253

Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Viremia in Presymptomatic Blood Donors in the Delta and Omicron Variant Eras

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2023 May 9;10(5):ofad253. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofad253. eCollection 2023 May.

Authors

Paula Saá¹, Rebecca V Fink², Hina Dawar³, Clara Di Germanio^{3

4}, Leilani Montalvo³, David J Wright², David E Krysztof¹, Steven H Kleinman⁵, Theresa Nester⁶, Debra A Kessler⁷, Rebecca L Townsend¹, Bryan R Spencer¹, Hany Kamel⁸, Jackie Vannoy⁸, Michael P Busch^{3

4}, Susan L Stramer¹, Mars Stone^{3

4}, Philip J Norris^{3

4

9}; NHLBI Recipient Epidemiology and Donor Evaluation Study-IV-Pediatric (REDS-IV-P)

Affiliations

¹ Scientific Affairs, American Red Cross, Rockville, Maryland, USA.
² Westat, Rockville, Maryland, USA.
³ Vitalant Research Institute, San Francisco, California, USA.
⁴ Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
⁵ University of British Columbia, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
⁶ Bloodworks Northwest, Seattle, Washington, USA.
⁷ New York Blood Center Enterprises, New York, New York, USA.
⁸ Vitalant, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA.
⁹ Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.

Abstract

Presymptomatic plasma samples from 1596 donors reporting coronavirus disease 2019 infection or symptoms after blood donation were tested for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA and anti-S and anti-N antibodies. Prior infection and vaccination both protected from developing SARS-CoV-2 RNAemia and from symptomatic infection. RNAemia rates did not differ in the Delta and Omicron variant eras.

Keywords: COVID-19; vaccination; viremia.