The potential threat to blood transfusion safety of emerging infectious disease agents

摘要

H&O How safe is the US blood supply at this time? SS The blood supply with respect to known infectious disease agents-such as HIV, hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV)-is very safe because of donor selection, donor screening, and blood donation testing. The per unit risk of contamination with HIV is approximately 1 in 1,000,000 units, which is also true for both HBV and HCV (see the table). People who receive multiple units are therefore at higher risk. The risk of receiving a bacteria-contaminated unit that causes a septic transfusion event is higher-approximately 1 in 109,000. Although we use strategies to mitigate the risk of contamination, most contaminating bacteria are common because they are present on the donor's skin.