Knowledge and behaviours associated with HIV infection and other sexually transmitted infections in blood donors in Italy.

INTRODUCTION: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) represent a group of widespread infectious diseases. The objective of this study is to investigate the knowledge on HIV and STIs as well as sexual risk behaviours among blood donors in Italy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was carried out in 2017 among blood donors who accessed social media of the Italian Association of Blood Donors (Associazione Volontari Italiani del Sangue, AVIS), and answered to a questionnaire posted online. RESULTS: Participating blood donors were 9,021, median age 36 years (IQR 26-47), 53.9% males, 94.3% heterosexual, and 2.7% reported having a current occasional partner. Unprotected sex in the last 4 months was reported by 54.1% of participants. About half of the participants were not informed of most STIs, 11.0% reported never having searched for information on HIV and STIs, one third considered unlikely acquiring HIV through unprotected sex with a known person, 21.3% would stop having sex with a partner found to be HIV-positive, and 15.8% would be afraid to hug or kiss a person with HIV. DISCUSSION: Our results show that most blood donors have a stable partner and search actively for information on HIV and STIs. However, there is a proportion of them who engage in high-risk behaviours, have misconceptions on HIV and STIs transmission, reporting a stigmatising attitude towards people with HIV. CONCLUSION: A more comprehensive and updated information on various STIs, transmission modes and safe sex should be provided to blood donors, not only to prevent the spread of these infections but also to avoid unjustified discrimination.

MiR-146a induction by cyanobacterial lipopolysaccharide antagonist (CyP) mediates endotoxin cross-tolerance.

Endotoxin tolerance is a phenomenon characterized by a reduced capacity of monocytes and macrophages to respond to repeated stimulation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) which has been suggested to represent a way of controlling the intensity and duration of innate immune response. During endotoxin tolerance, monocytes undergo functional re-programming primarily by epigenetic regulation. Recently, micro-RNA (miR)-146a has been demonstrated to be the major player of the negative regulation of the pro-inflammatory response, affecting TNF-α production. In this study, we have employed CyP, a cyanobacterial LPS antagonist acting on TLR4-MD2 complex, for priming human monocytes and evaluating their response to a subsequent challenge with E. coli LPS. Results show that CyP is able to induce cross-tolerance to E. coli LPS by inhibiting TNF-α production. The mechanism of action is mediated by a specific induction of miR-146a and reduction of IRAK1 and TRAF6 expressions in human monocytes by CyP priming. Up-regulation of miR-146a by CyP alone, affects subsequent cell response in term of TNF-α production even when monocytes are incubated with other TLR ligands, as lipoteichoic acid (LTA), thus confirming miR-146a as a critical player mediating TNF-α regulation during cross-tolerance with CyP.

"Just" blood donors? A study on the multi-affiliations of blood donors.

BACKGROUND: The present work proposes to explore a phenomenon well known in the world of blood donation, but little explored by literature: multi-affiliations. By that term, in this paper we mean blood donors' engagement in multiple associations of various natures (donation, recreation, sports, etc.) simultaneously. The first objective proposes to explore the phenomenon of multi-affiliations in descriptive terms; the second is to look into the differences-in terms of motivations, family-work-volunteerism reconciliation, life satisfaction, and membership satisfaction-between those who "only" carry out blood donation activity and those who instead participate in multiple associative realities concurrently. METHOD: Participating in the research were 2674 donors from the Italian Association of Blood Donors (AVIS) (age range 18-65; 66.6% male) to which a self-report questionnaire was administered in the waiting rooms of numerous blood donation centers. RESULTS: Regarding the first objective, it emerged that only 35.9% of the participants "only" donate blood, while a good 64.1% is engaged also in other associations. Regarding the second objective, statistically significant differences emerge regarding many of the variables considered: social, values, ego-protection, and career motivation; capacity to reconcile family-volunteering and work-volunteering; life satisfaction; and membership satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: The study offers precious information to the agencies that handle recruiting and retaining of donors. The agencies in fact can take away information on how to improve the multi-affiliations of their donors, an aspect that can facilitate their long-term retention.

Economic crisis and blood donation: How are donors' motivations changing?

BACKGROUND: The economic crisis has exasperated people's feelings of loneliness; job instability often does not allow people to commit to voluntary work. The present work proposes to examine whether the motivations to donate blood have changed before and during the period of economic crisis, taking into consideration donors' gender. We adopted Omoto & Snyder's functionalist approach, which states that blood donation serves different functions for any one person, who may have different motivations from those held by other people. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We compared six-year pre-post (t1 "pre-crisis": 2008 - t2 "during the crisis": 2014) data on a sample of blood donors in a single blood donation center situated in Northern Italy. T-test was used for data analysis. Three hundred thirty donors (age range 18-60, M = 32.6, SD = 9.53; 54.5% male) were administered a survey at t1 and 444 (age range 18-60, M = 37.8, SD = 10.16; 68% male) six years later at t2. In both surveys, participants were administered a questionnaire with socio-demographic items and a version of Omoto & Snyder's Motivations to Volunteer scale adapted to blood donation. RESULTS: Donors' motivation priorities did not vary over time. Values and Self-enhancement motivations are the most prevalent. Knowledge and Ego-protection motivations decreased with the upsurge of the crisis. Women, in general, report higher mean values than men do for Values and Ego-protection motivations. CONCLUSION: These results can offer valuable clues for the agencies that manage blood collection.

New donors, loyal donors, and regular donors: Which motivations sustain blood donation?

BACKGROUND: The present contribution aims to investigate the motivations underlying blood donation and to probe how these differ on the basis of number of donations and donors' gender. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 237 Italian donors (64.6% male) were administered a self-report questionnaire containing socio-demographic variables and Omoto and Snyder's Motivations for Volunteerism Scale adapted to blood donation. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The results reveal: (a) significant differences between new donors (1-4 donations) and loyal donors (5-15 donations) as well as between new donors and regular donors (more than 16 donations) emerge with respect to social motivations and ego-protection, which increase proportionately to number of donations; (b) gender differences characterize all the motivations except those related to values; (c) value motivations do not vary either with respect to number of donations or to gender.

Adolescents and blood donation: motivations, hurdles and possible recruitment strategies.

BACKGROUND: For years researchers have been trying to determine what factors influence a person's choice to give blood, with the aim of translating the data collected into ever more concrete operative methods for recruiting new donors and managing and using blood to meet the needs of the donor. Adolescents are a potential source of great interest not only for the blood they could supply, but also because information on the subject of "giving blood" could favour the spread of healthy lifestyles and contribute to the development of a mature, responsible civic culture. The aim of the present study was to investigate the motivations and obstacles to giving blood among adolescents and strategies to recruit donors from this group of subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A self-report questionnaire was given to 3,050 pupils in 11 high schools in the Lombardy Region (Italy) (Age range: 13-21 years, mean 16.5, SD=1.65, males=47.7%, females=52.3%). The questionnaire comprised 14 items that addressed motivations and obstacles to giving blood and recruitment strategies in adolescents, knowledge about the world of blood donation and socio-demographic information. Descriptive analyses (frequencies, means and standard deviations), chi squared test (χ(2)) and the t-test (t) for independent samples were conducted. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The data collected regarding the three abovementioned areas of investigation (motivations, obstacles and recruitment strategies) were analysed with respect to gender. The results yielded some interesting information on which to build hypotheses concerning the pre-established objectives, including the importance of active involvement of adolescents by the organisations charged with promoting blood collection, emphasising the important role of the school and giving the adolescents the chance to meet with an expert on blood donation.