Has the frequency of ABO RhD blood groups in Australian blood donors changed as a result of the removal of the variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease-based deferral?

BACKGROUND AND

OBJECTIVES

Until 25 July 2022, Australians who had spent more than 6 months in the United Kingdom or territories between 1980 and 1996 were deferred from blood donation due to the risk of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Removal of this geography-based donor deferral on RhD-negative blood availability has not been reported.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

All donors who donated at least once from 25 July 2022 to 25 July 2023 were included. UK donor status, first-time donor and ABO RhD data were extracted from the National Blood Management System.

RESULTS

Data from 566,447 blood donors with a valid ABO RhD result were analysed. Of these, 34,560 were new or returning lapsed donors following removal of the UK donor deferral. The median age [range] in years for all donors was 43 [75] with UK donors being older 53 [70]. There was a higher prevalence of RhD-negative status in UK donors (20.2%) compared with first-time blood donors (15.7%).

CONCLUSION

UK donors were generally older, female and more likely to be RhD-negative. Although UK donors provided a boost to RhD-negative blood collections, the overall prevalence of ABO RhD blood groups in the total Australian blood donor panel remained similar to previous estimates.