DESPITE the increase in the number of confirmed cases in the country, the Department of Health (DOH) has scrapped the plans to test all donated blood units for possible presence of the Zika virus.
According to DOH Undersecretary Gerardo Bayugo, they have already decided to do away with the plan for simply being a “logistic nightmare.”
“Mukhang it will be logistic nightmare. Because we cannot just test all the blood, and there are so many blood donations,” Bayugo told reporters.
He pointed how testing blood units donated will cost P6,000 each donor.
“Testing all blood donors will not be economically feasible for us to do. Otherwise, it’s either mauubusan tayo ng pera or wala na magdo-donate ng blood,” said Bayugo.
Aside from mosquito bites, the virus is also reported to be transmitted through blood transfusions.
Zika virus is known to cause mild illnesses only, except for pregnant women as they have increased risk of giving birth to babies with congenital defects affecting the brain (microcephaly).
And because of the higher risk to pregnant women and their infants, the health official bared that they just opted to limit the blood testing to them.
“The latest guidelines we are getting now is to test for Zika only if the mother pregnant mother will be needing blood transfusion... Only the blood that will be transferred to them will need to be tested for Zika,” said Bayugo. (HDT/Sunnex)