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. 2020 Jul;26(7):1621-1623.
doi: 10.3201/eid2607.200549. Epub 2020 Jun 21.

Detection of Influenza A(H3N2) Virus RNA in Donated Blood

Rafael Dos Santos Bezerra, Daniel Macedo de Melo Jorge, Ítalo Araújo Castro, Edson Lara Moretto, Leonardo Scalon de Oliveira, Eugênia Maria Amorim Ubiali, Dimas Tadeu Covas, Eurico Arruda, Simone Kashima, Svetoslav Nanev Slavov

Detection of Influenza A(H3N2) Virus RNA in Donated Blood

Rafael Dos Santos Bezerra et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2020 Jul.

Abstract

Influenza A virus infection has rarely been documented to cause viremia. In 28 blood donations in Brazil that were deferred because of postdonation information, we identified influenza A(H3N2) virus RNA in 1 donation using metagenomic analysis. Our finding implies theoretical risk for viremia and transfusion transmission.

Keywords: H3N2; Influenza A; RNA; blood donations; influenza; respiratory infections; viral metagenomics; viruses.

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Figures

Figure
Figure
Maximum-likelihood phylogenetic tree of hemagglutinin (A) and neuraminidase (B) of influenza A(H3N2) virus detected in blood donation, Brazil. A total of 264 hemagglutinin and 419 neuraminidase sequences from seasonal strains circulating during 2011–2019 and available in GISAID (https://www.gisaid.org) were used to estimate the phylogenetic relationships with the influenza A virus detected in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil. Green indicates the H3N2 strain obtained from blood donor from Ribeirao Preto; diamonds at each node indicate statistical support along branches defined as ultrafast bootstrapping >90% (of 10,000 replicates). The cluster where the donor strain obtained from Ribeirao Preto is located is shown in detail at bottom. Scale bars indicate nucleotide substitutions per site.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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