Pathogen inactivation: a new paradigm for blood safety

Transfusion-related mortality: the ongoing risks of allogeneic blood transfusion and the available strategies for their prevention

“…Pathogen reduction will also prevent rare deaths from TA-GVHD in patients receiving unirradiated components either by mistake or because they do not have a recognized indication for gamma-irradiation. 86 These technologies are currently available for platelets and FFP, have an acceptable safety profile, and have already been licensed in western Europe and elsewhere. Although the safety improvement they confer is widely acknowledged, there is debate as to whether PR for all platelets and FFP should be introduced before suitable technologies also become available for RBCs.…”

Meta‐analysis of the studies of bleeding complications of platelets pathogen‐reduced with the Intercept system

“…The RCT of Kerkhoffs et al . [1] questioned prevailing opinion [7–11] that the reduction in post‐transfusion platelet count increments (CCIs) caused by transfusion of platelets treated with Intercept (compared with untreated components) can be overcome by merely increasing platelet transfusions. These investigators [1] demonstrated an increase in bleeding complications in recipients of platelets treated with Intercept compared with controls, despite the fact that the recipients of treated platelets had also received more platelet transfusions to maintain a platelet count of ≥10 000/μl [1].…”

Staphylococcus epidermidis Forms Floating Micro-colonies in Platelet Concentrates at the Early Stage of Contamination

“…3) Because S. epidermidis grows very slowly in PCs 5,6) and form biofilms on the insides of PC storage bags after storage for three days, it can escape detection. 7) Presently, inactivation techniques 8,9) as well as rapid microbial detection methods 1) are required to ensure the safety of PCs. To develop these techniques, understanding of the proliferation process of this pathogenic bacterium in PCs is important.…”