Publications by authors named "Kacie Grimm"
Article Synopsis
- * They detected a small number (0.2%) of blood samples with antibodies indicating past exposure to the virus, suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 was circulating in the U.S. before the first officially recognized case on January 19, 2020.
- * The findings imply that the early presence of the virus may have gone unnoticed, highlighting the need for more extensive testing and monitoring prior to the outbreak becoming widely recognized.
Article Synopsis
- - SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and the initial US cases emerged in January 2020.
- - Researchers tested 7,389 blood donation samples from the American Red Cross collected between December 2019 and January 2020 to look for SARS-CoV-2-reactive antibodies, utilizing various diagnostic assays.
- - Out of the tested samples, 106 showed reactivity for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, indicating that the virus might have been present in the US before the first confirmed case on January 19, 2020.
Background: Chikungunya (CHIKV), dengue (DENV), and Zika (ZIKV) viruses are of concern due to the potential of transfusion transmission in blood, especially in regions such as Southeast Asia where the viruses are endemic. The recent availability of nucleic acid testing (NAT) to screen blood donations on an automated platform provides the opportunity to detect potentially infectious units in asymptomatic donors.
Study Design And Methods: Three thousand blood donations from Vietnam and 6000 from Thailand were screened with a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test (cobas CHIKV/DENV, Roche Diagnostics, Indianapolis, IN) and equal numbers on cobas Zika (Roche Diagnostics).
Background: Zika virus (ZIKV) spread to Puerto Rico likely originated from southeastern Brazil approximately 8.5 months earlier than blood donation screening for ZIKV was initiated, but the time of ZIKV introduction in the blood donor population remains unknown.
Methods: To better understand when arboviral infections first appeared in the blood donor pool in Puerto Rico, we retrospectively screened for ZIKV RNA (as well as chikungunya [CHIKV] and dengue [DENV] viral RNA) a repository of 1186 linked blood donor and recipient samples collected from February 2015 to May 2016 as an endpoint efficacy measure following the introduction of platelet pathogen reduction (PR).
Background: In fall 2017, 3 solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients from a common donor developed encephalitis within 1 week of transplantation, prompting suspicion of transplant-transmitted infection. Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) infection was identified during testing of endomyocardial tissue from the heart recipient.
Methods: We reviewed medical records of the organ donor and transplant recipients and tested serum, whole blood, cerebrospinal fluid, and tissue from the donor and recipients for evidence of EEEV infection by multiple assays.
Background: Transfusion-transmitted malaria (TTM) is a rare occurrence with serious consequences for the recipient. A case study is presented as an example of best practices for conducting a TTM investigation.
Case Report: A 15-year-old male with a history of sickle cell disease developed fever after a blood transfusion.