Israel to retest thousands of blood donations for syphilis
European maker of testing kits informs Health Ministry of problem; negligible risk seen for most recipients
Israel will retest thousands of blood donations made since June, after the manufacturer of the kits used to check the blood for syphilis said they may be faulty, the Health Ministry said Wednesday.
The ministry reassured the public that the chances of infection were almost zero, but authorities were still taking extra precautions to “track down anyone who may have been infected and to prevent any future infections.”
The European manufacturer of the syphilis test kits informed the Health Ministry on Sunday, the eve of the Jewish New Year, that there was a problem with the sensitivity of the kits, which had failed to detect the syphilis virus in two instances of people who were recently infected with the sexually transmitted disease.
The ministry said that the chances of regular transfusion recipients getting the disease were minuscule, but said there was a small risk for patients who received a platelet transfusion.
“The virus is very sensitive to cold and so the chances of it being transferred from packets that were refrigerated or frozen are negligible,” the ministry said in a statement. “However, there is a small risk for those who received platelet transfers, which are stored at room temperature.”
Anyone who was found to have been infected or who gave a donation while carrying the disease would be informed and treated. Syphilis is treated with antibiotics and responds well to it, the ministry said.
The Health Ministry routinely checks blood donations for diseases that can be transmitted through blood, like HIV AIDS, hepatitis, and syphilis.