Report on Notifications Pursuant to §21 German Transfusion Act for 2008 and 2009

The plasma supply in Germany

There is a demand for self-sufficiency of plasma from the government of the Federal Republic of Germany. To fulfill this, a number of efforts undertaken over the last years. This report describes the current status of the plasma supply in Germany. Data were retrieved from the Paul-Ehrlich-Institute which collects data on the collection and use of blood including plasma according to the German Transfusion Act. Collection of therapeutic plasma showed a slight decline since 2013 but a new peak was observed in 2017. Plasma for fractionation remained almost constant for the last years and about 2 million liters of plasma for fractionation are collected as source plasma. Manufacture of immunoglobulin is steadily increasing to treat patients with immunodeficiencies. Human plasma Factor VIII and IX are still used for treatment of haemophilia in the era of recombinant products. Import and export of plasma for fractionation ensure the supply of plasma derivatives. Targeted fibrinogen supplementation in combination with individualized patient blood management resulted in a decreased use of therapeutic plasma units.

Estimating the residual risk for HIV, HCV and HBV in different types of platelet concentrates in Germany

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

We estimated and compared the residual risks due to window-period donations for pooled and apheresis platelets in Germany using a modification of a previously described statistical model. This model directly utilizes the reported interdonation intervals before a positive donation and reflects in this aspect the look-back procedures used in haemovigilance.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Data from the German National Blood Donor Surveillance System for the years 2006-2012, including reports about donations from repeat donors with confirmed positive test results for HIV, HCV and HBV, were used to estimate the risk of undetected infectious units for both pooled and apheresis platelets.

RESULTS

Demographics of whole-blood and apheresis donors differed in age, gender, catchment area and interdonation interval. These differences impact on the prevalence and incidence of transfusion relevant infections and consequently the residual risk. The estimates for the residual risks for pooled and apheresis platelets were comparable. For HIV, there was no significant difference, for HCV apheresis platelets had a lower residual risk, whereas pooled platelets had a lower risk for undetected HBV infections.

CONCLUSION

These findings do not support calls for a shift to an apheresis platelets-only policy in Germany.

Donor satisfaction with a new german blood donor questionnaire and intention of the donor to return for further donations

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to describe donor satisfaction regarding different aspects of the new German blood donor questionnaire (BDQ) and to assess whether donor satisfaction is associated with the intention to return for further donations.

METHODS

A random number of 6,600 blood donors, donating at the German Red Cross Blood Service Baden-Wuerttemberg - Hessen, were asked to rate their satisfaction with four different aspects of the BDQ. Chi-square statistics was used to test for associations between satisfaction and the intention to return.

RESULTS

Most of the donors were satisfied with format and layout (72.7%) and the clarity of the questions (72.5%). However, only 39.5% of the donors were satisfied with the scope of the BDQ and 44.3% with the questions about sexual risk behavior. The lowest satisfaction seemed to be among experienced donors and among donors from small municipalities. Among experienced and very experienced donors, a significant association between the satisfaction with the different aspects and the intention to return became apparent.

CONCLUSION

When considering the implementation of the BDQ, Blood Donor Services have to weigh up the advantages of increased deferral rates among donors with high-risk behavior against the potential drop-out of dissatisfied blood donors.