From Central Office
Vox Sanguinis highlights
Fresh from the press
Hortense Ngegni Pangetna, Symphorien Ewodo, Marion Vermeulen, Brian Custer, Jacques Delors Toumansie Mfonkou, Thierry Ebogo, Micheline Mimche, Richard Njouom
Article Highlights:
- The prevalence of hepatitis D virus (HDV) in asymptomatic blood donors positive for the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was high in the study setting.
- Anti-HDV detection was associated with the HBsAg screening method.
- It is important to continue HBV prevention campaigns, such as vaccination, to reduce the seroprevalence of HBV and HDV in the general and blood donor populations of Cameroon.
First published: 15 October 2025
Article Highlights:
- Low haemoglobin density percentage (LHD%) is a no-added-cost, complete blood count–derived marker that shows modest but consistent diagnostic performance for iron deficiency (ID) and ID anaemia screening.
- Context-specific LHD% cutoffs can optimize sensitivity or specificity depending on clinical needs, including for general population screening, donor evaluation and anaemia triage in hospitalized patients.
- Its scalability and accessibility make LHD% a promising tool for large-scale screening, especially for resource-limited settings and public health.
First published: 15 October 2025
Amber Meulenbeld, Claire Styles, Glen Shuttleworth, Supun Manathunga, Hans van Remoortel, Lucile Malard, Tinus Brits, Ronel Swanevelder, Jose Antonio García-Erce, Iris Garcia-Martínez, Surendra Karki, Marijke Welvaert, W. Alton Russell, Mikko Arvas, Katja van den Hurk, Mart Pothast, Mart Janssen
Article Highlights:
- Deferring donors based on historical mean haemoglobin (Hb) levels may reduce Hb deferral rates in all participating blood establishments by up to 70%.
- The use of such an algorithm also identifies donors with consistently low Hb levels who are currently allowed to donate because of incidentally high Hb measurements.
- This is a first step towards a more comprehensive assessment of donor eligibility using historical Hb measurements, pending evidence on long-term effects, further development of the algorithm and donor safety.
First published: 13 October 2025
Kriangsak Jenwitheesuk, Poonsup Sripara, Komsan Sayan, Wanut Padee, Anupong Tita, Ronnarit Boonyarat
Article Highlights:
- An artificial intelligence-based plasma quality control system achieved 94.7% accuracy with 100% sensitivity, ensuring all abnormal plasma units are detected for enhanced patient safety.
- The automated system substantially reduced unnecessary wastage of normal plasma units compared to manual inspection (which has an inherent 10%–30% error rate), achieving only 26 false positives, versus an estimated 29–86 with traditional methods.
- Integration with a plasma-sorting machine creates a standardized, objective quality control approach with potential for global adoption in transfusion medicine.
First published: 29 September 2025
