Blood Products Still Safe From Zika Virus: American Red Cross

American Red Cross really aims and is still dedicated to providing safe and reliable blood products according to its vice president of scientific affairs Dr. Suran Stramer. While closely monitoring the spread of Zika virus, the organization is requesting all possible blood donors to wait for at least 28 days before donating blood.

Donors who recently traveled to countries that have positive Zika virus cases were asked to hold on for almost a month first before their next blood extraction. This guideline applies to those probable donors who visited Carribean, South and Central America, and Mexico as posted on CBS News. The non-government and non-profit organization want to maintain the low risk of transmitting Zika through blood donation.

Additionally, according to U.S News Health, Stramer spoke on behalf of the American Red Cross that it only collects blood from donors who are healthy at the time of the donation. The organization also provided call back digits in case the donors experience any symptoms of the disease several days after the donation, so that the blood extracted from them will be quarantined and not be used for any transfusion in the future.

Now, almost 30 Americans are infected with Zika virus after visiting Latin America or the Caribbean as posted on USA Today. The risk of the travelers to spread the diseases to others is distant because mosquitoes don't bite during the winter, Robert Glatter said, Lenox Hill Hospital physician in New York City.

The policy by the American Red Cross will decrease the blood supply, however, donating blood is a safe process, so people should not hesitate to give or receive blood, so, see to it that its doctors conduct a health history screening for all potential donors including temperature, blood pressure, hemoglobin levels as well as recent medical conditions and travel information to ensure the safety of everyone since there is still no available licensed blood donor screening test for Zika virus.