Zika virus infection and transfusion safety / 中国输血杂志

ABSTRACT

Zika virus(ZIKV) is an arbovirus transmitted mainly by mosquitoes. ZIKV infection usually causes mild self-limiting disease, and most of the infected patients only developed relatively mild symptoms which were often easily overlooked. However, serious damage of the central nervous system is observed in a few of the infected patients, and microcephaly of embryos and fetuses in pregnant women infected by ZIKV has attracted wide attention in recent years. Although there is a high proportion of asymptomatic infection and a high incidence of viremia, ZIKV has not been included in the routine pathogen screening before blood donation in China yet, and there is a risk of transmission through blood transfusion. This article briefly introduces the biological characteristics, epidemic characteristics, and pathogenic mechanisms of ZIKV,, and discusses ZIKV infection and the safety of blood transfusion.