Psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on young professionals in blood banks and transfusion services: A global cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The COVID-19 pandemic brought about changes to daily life as measures to contain the spread of the virus increased across the world. The aim of this survey was to assess the psychological impact of the pandemic on young professionals (YPs) in transfusion medicine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional web-based survey was distributed electronically to ISBT members inviting YPs (≤40 years) to participate. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software. RESULTS: Two hundred and fifty-nine YPs completed the survey, including 107 clinicians/physicians and/or nurses. Almost half of the YPs (52.5%) indicated increased stress levels and 15.4% indicated symptoms of depression. YPs highlighted the loss of social engagement (59.1%) and increased pressure from information seen on media (35.5%) as factors negatively impacting their psychological wellbeing. Further, 20.8% expressed increased economic stress resulting from concerns about job security. Almost half of the YPs indicated that their organization provided moderate/occasional holistic support to them and their families. Sixty percent and 74.4% of YPs reported increased workload and staff absence due to COVID-19 infection, respectively. Only half of clinicians/physicians and/or nurses indicated that they often had sufficient personal protective equipment. The majority of these (76.6%) had family/household members living with them, and 61% indicated that they were significantly worried about infecting them because of the nature of their work. CONCLUSION: COVID-19 had a major impact on the well-being of YPs working in transfusion medicine. Measures are required to ensure that YPs are protected and mentally supported while undertaking their duties in current and future pandemics.

The Recipient Epidemiology and Donor Evaluation Study-IV-Pediatric (REDS-IV-P): A research program striving to improve blood donor safety and optimize transfusion outcomes across the lifespan.

BACKGROUND: The Recipient Epidemiology and Donor Evaluation Study-IV-Pediatric (REDS-IV-P) is a new iteration of prior National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) REDS programs that focus on improving transfusion recipient outcomes across the lifespan as well as the safety and availability of the blood supply. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: The US program includes blood centers and hospitals (22 including 6 free-standing Children's hospitals) in four geographic regions. The Brazilian program has 5 participating hemocenters. A Center for Transfusion Laboratory Studies (CTLS) and a Data Coordinating Center (DCC) support synergistic studies and activities over the 7-year REDS-IV-P program. RESULTS: The US is building a centralized, vein-to-vein (V2V) database, linking information collected from blood donors, their donations, the resulting manufactured components, and data extracts from hospital electronic medical records of transfused and non-transfused patients. Simultaneously, the Brazilian program is building a donor, donation, and component database. The databases will serve as the backbone for retrospective and prospective observational studies in transfusion epidemiology, transfusion recipient outcomes, blood component quality, and emerging blood safety issues. Special focus will be on preterm infants, patients with sickle cell disease, thalassemia or cancer, and the effect of donor biologic variability and component manufacturing on recipient outcomes. A rapid response capability to emerging safety threats has resulted in timely studies related to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). CONCLUSIONS: The REDS-IV-P program endeavors to improve donor-recipient-linked research with a focus on children and special populations while also maintaining the flexibility to address emerging blood safety issues.

Genetic risk factors and COVID-19 severity in Brazil: results from BRACOVID study.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has changed the paradigms for disease surveillance and rapid deployment of scientific-based evidence for understanding disease biology, susceptibility and treatment. We have organized a large-scale genome-wide association study (GWAS) in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infected individuals in Sao Paulo, Brazil, one of the most affected areas of the pandemic in the country, itself one of the most affected in the world. Here, we present the results of the initial analysis in the first 5233 participants of the BRACOVID study. We have conducted a GWAS for COVID-19 hospitalization enrolling 3533 cases (hospitalized COVID-19 participants) and 1700 controls (non-hospitalized COVID-19 participants). Models were adjusted by age, sex and the 4 first principal components. A meta-analysis was also conducted merging BRACOVID hospitalization data with the Human Genetic Initiative (HGI) Consortia results. BRACOVID results validated most loci previously identified in the HGI meta-analysis. In addition, no significant heterogeneity according to ancestral group within the Brazilian population was observed for the two most important COVID-19 severity associated loci: 3p21.31 and Chr21 near IFNAR2. Using only data provided by BRACOVID, a new genome-wide significant locus was identified on Chr1 near the genes DSTYK and RBBP5. The associated haplotype has also been previously associated with a number of blood cell related traits and might play a role in modulating the immune response in COVID-19 cases.

Association between FY*02N.01 and the severity of COVID-19: initial observations.

Introduction: The pro-inflammatory immune response underlies severe cases of COVID-19. Antigens of the Duffy blood group systems are receptors for pro-inflammation chemokines. The ACKR1 c.-67T>C gene variation silences the expression of Duffy antigens on erythrocytes and individuals presenting this variant in homozygosity have impaired inflammatory response control. Our aim was to evaluate the association between the ACKR1 c.-67T>C and the severity of COVID-19. Methods: This was a retrospective single-center case-control study, enrolling 164 participants who were divided into four groups: 1) Death: COVID-19 patients who died during hospitalization; 2) Hospital Discharge: COVID-19 patients who were discharged for home after hospitalizations; 3) Convalescent Plasma Donors: COVID-19 patients who were not hospitalized, and; 4) Controls: patients with diagnosis other than COVID-19. Patients were genotyped for the ACKR1 c.-67T>C (FY*02 N.01 allele) and the frequency of individuals presenting the altered allele was compared between the groups. Results: The groups significantly differed in terms of the percentage of patients presenting at least one FY*02N.01 allele: 36.8% (Death group), 37% (Hospital Discharge group), 16.1% (Convalescent Plasma group) and 16.2% (Control group) (p = 0.027). The self-declared race (p < 0.001) and the occurrence of in hospital death (p = 0.058) were independently associated with the presence of the FY*02N.01 allele. Hypertension (p < 0.001), age (p < 0.001) and the presence of at least one FY*02N.01 allele (p = 0.009) were independently associated with the need for hospitalization. Conclusion: There is a suggestive association between the presence of the FY*02N.01 and the severity of COVID-19. This may be a mechanism underlying the worse prognosis for Afro-descendants infected with SARS-CoV-2.

Correlation between SARS-COV-2 antibody screening by immunoassay and neutralizing antibody testing.

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of convalescent plasma (CP), an alternative for the treatment of COVID-19, depends on high titers of neutralizing antibodies (nAbs), but assays for quantifying nAbs are not widely available. Our goal was to develop a strategy to predict high titers of nAbs based on the results of anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoassays and the clinical characteristics of CP donors. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A total of 214 CP donors were enrolled and tested for the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (IgG) using two commercial immunoassays: EUROIMMUN (ELISA) and Abbott (Chemiluminescence). Quantification of nAbs was performed using the Cytopathic Effect-based Virus Neutralization test. Three criteria for identifying donors with nAbs ≥ 1:160 were tested: - C1: Curve ROC; - C2: Conditional decision tree considering only the IA results and - C3: Conditional decision tree including both the IA results and the clinical variables. RESULTS: The performance of the immunoassays was similar referring to both S/CO and predictive value for identifying nAbs titers ≥1:160. Regarding the studied criteria for identifying CP donors with high nAbs titers: (a) C1 showed 76.1% accuracy if S/CO = 4.65, (b) C2 presented 76.1% accuracy if S/CO ≥4.57 and (c) C3 had 71.6% accuracy if S/CO was ≥4.57 or if S/CO was between 2.68-4.57 and the last COVID-19-related symptoms were recent (within 19 days). CONCLUSION: SARS-CoV-2 IgG immunoassays (S/CO) can be used to predict high anti-SARS-CoV-2 nAbs titers. This study has proposed different criteria for identifying donors with ≥1:160 nAbs titers, all with high efficacy.