Risk of Transfusion Transmission in Asymptomatic and Symptomatic COVID-19 Patients

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The authors performed molecular testing in 15 symptomatic and 3 asymptomatic patients with COVID-19 using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction of nasopharyngeal swabs and serum to evaluate the potential of bloodborne COVID-19 transmission in asymptomatic blood donors. Of the 18 patients tested, only 1 patient who developed severe clinical illness requiring mechanical ventilation tested positive for COVID-19 RNA from the serum.
Bloodborne transmission of COVID-19 appears to be unlikely, as most asymptomatic patients do not appear to develop a significant RNAemia, whereas those in whom COVID-19 is detectable from the serum suffer from severe clinical illness.