Evolving Approaches to Estimate Risks of Transfusion-Transmitted Viral Infections: Incidence-Window Period Model after Ten Years

摘要

Concern over transmission of viral infections by blood transfusions has existed since cases of post-transfusion hepatitis were first observed during World War II, when blood and plasma use dramatically increased. However, studies to accurately measurerisks of transfusion-transmitted viral infections (TTVIs) were not initiated for several decades since they required epidemiological approaches and laboratory tools that only became available in the 1970s. Even then, the challenge of measuring transfusion risks of previously uncharacterized agents like Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and emerging viruses like Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) was daunting.