West Nile fever in the background of the pandemic covid-19

Abstract

Due to climate change, tropical pathogens spread in Europe, posing a risk to the safety of a hemotherapy in the Czech Republic. The occurence of the West Nile virus (WNV) in the Czech Republic was documented as early as 1985 and it was demonstrated that WNV has been circulating in the Czech Republic for a long time. Transmission of the WNV infection by blood transfusion is known since 2002.

In 2018, five human locally acquired (autochthonous) WNV infections were confirmed in the South Moravian  Region, and the transfusion service facility was faced with the question of how to adequately ensure the safety of transfusion products in the region in the accordance with the mandatory legislation. The readiness of the transfusion service in the Czech Republic to solve a similar situation must be ensured in every WNV season, which is not possible without a close cooperation with infectologists and epidemiologists.

This article summarizes basic data on the occurence of WNV in the Czech Republic and on the procedures to ensure the safety of hemotherapy in relation to WNV.