Haemovigilance and Epidemiological Surveillance of Transfusion-Transmitted Infections in Greece, 1996-2023: National Donor Screening Data and Recipient Investigations.

BACKGROUND

Surveillance of transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs) supports blood safety, particularly for multi-transfused patients such as those with haemoglobinopathies.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

Retrospective descriptive analysis of aggregated national surveillance data from Greece. We report aggregate infectious-marker positivity values from national surveillance summaries for 1996-2009. We also report NAT yields in 2007-2023, the transmission categories of HIV-positive donors in 2010-2019 and recipient investigations reported to the national haemovigilance system in 2005-2023.

RESULTS

More than 14 million donations were tested in 1996-2023. For 1996-2009, the surveillance summaries reported aggregate positivity of 0.39% for HBsAg, 0.09% for anti-HCV, 0.017% for syphilis and 0.008% for anti-HIV1/2. In 2007-2023, NAT detected 1,393 serology-negative infectious donations among 8,389,862 donations reported as tested (estimated 16.6 per 100,000; 95% CI 15.7-17.5), of which 1,321 were HBV. In 2010-2019, 56.9% of HIV-positive donors were men who have sex with men and 25.3% were heterosexual. Fifteen recipient investigations were reported among 13.6 million issued components; transmission was excluded in one.

CONCLUSION

In 2007-2023, NAT detected infectious donations that serology missed, mostly HBV. Reported recipient infections were rare but included emerging pathogens. Annual data are needed to assess trends.