The “Grey Zone” in Blood Donor Screening: A Retrospective Study and Proposal for Donor Re-Entry
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Method
2.1. Study Design and Population
2.2. TTIs Testing
2.3. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Donor Demographics
3.2. Reactive Donors
3.3. Grey Zone Results and Follow-Up
3.4. Reactivity Associations with Donor Characteristics
4. Discussion
Proposal of Donor Re-Entry Protocol
5. Study Limitations
6. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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TTIs Marker | Number of Reactions (%) | Reactive on Repeat (%) | Non-Reactive on Repeat (%) |
---|---|---|---|
Anti-HBc | Non-reactive = 45,844 (95.0) | NA | NA |
Reactive = 2312 (4.8) | 2254 (97.5) | 57 (2.5) | |
Grey zone = 76 (0.16) | 24 (31.6) | 52 (68.4) | |
HBsAg | Non-reactive = 45,918 (95.2) | NA | NA |
Reactive = 2292 (4.8) | 2233 (97.4) | 59 (2.6) | |
Grey zone = 28 (0.06) | 8 (28.6) | 20 (71.4) | |
HCV | Non-reactive = 48,055 (99.6) | NA | NA |
Reactive = 147 (0.3) | 116 (79) | 31 (21) | |
Grey zone = 39 (0.08) | 11 (28) | 28 (72) | |
HIV | Non-reactive = 48,124 (99.8) | NA | NA |
Reactive = 103 (0.2) | 21 (20) | 82 (80) | |
Grey zone = 14 (0.03) | 0 (0) | 14 (100) | |
HTLV | Non-reactive = 48,126 (99.8) | NA | NA |
Reactive = 95 (0.2) | 68 (71.58) | 27 (28.4) | |
Grey zone = 20 (0.04) | 3 (15) | 17 (85) | |
Syphilis | Non-reactive = 47,987 (99.5) | NA | NA |
Reactive = 218 (0.5) | 201 (92.2) | 17 (7.80) | |
Grey zone = 36 (0.07) | 11 (30.6) | 25 (69.4) |
TTIs Marker | Grey Zone Results | Returned Donors (%) | Reactive on Return (%) |
---|---|---|---|
Anti-HBc | 76 | 20 (26) | 3 (15) |
HBsAg | 28 | 5 (17.9) | 0 |
HCV | 39 | 7 (18) | 0 |
HIV | 14 | 2 (14.3) | 0 |
HTLV | 20 | 3 (15) | 0 |
Syphilis | 36 | 6 (16.7) | 0 |
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Tounsi, W.A.; Hakami, N.Y.; Alamoudi, S.O.; Altayeb, W.A.; Aljuhani, S.H.; Al-Sulami, A.J.; Alzahrani, O.A.; Garout, R.M.; Almansouri, T.S.; Bawazir, W.M.; et al. The “Grey Zone” in Blood Donor Screening: A Retrospective Study and Proposal for Donor Re-Entry. Diagnostics 2025, 15, 2261. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics15172261
Tounsi WA, Hakami NY, Alamoudi SO, Altayeb WA, Aljuhani SH, Al-Sulami AJ, Alzahrani OA, Garout RM, Almansouri TS, Bawazir WM, et al. The “Grey Zone” in Blood Donor Screening: A Retrospective Study and Proposal for Donor Re-Entry. Diagnostics. 2025; 15(17):2261. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics15172261
Chicago/Turabian StyleTounsi, Wajnat A., Nora Y. Hakami, Seraj O. Alamoudi, Wejdan A. Altayeb, Shahad H. Aljuhani, Afnan J. Al-Sulami, Osama A. Alzahrani, Raed M. Garout, Taghreed S. Almansouri, Waleed M. Bawazir, and et al. 2025. "The “Grey Zone” in Blood Donor Screening: A Retrospective Study and Proposal for Donor Re-Entry" Diagnostics 15, no. 17: 2261. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics15172261
APA StyleTounsi, W. A., Hakami, N. Y., Alamoudi, S. O., Altayeb, W. A., Aljuhani, S. H., Al-Sulami, A. J., Alzahrani, O. A., Garout, R. M., Almansouri, T. S., Bawazir, W. M., Qattan, A., & Badawi, M. A. (2025). The “Grey Zone” in Blood Donor Screening: A Retrospective Study and Proposal for Donor Re-Entry. Diagnostics, 15(17), 2261. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics15172261