Transfusion Medicine - Is Its Future Secure?

 Disease-Free Blood-A Moving Target

Some countries claim that their blood supply has never been safer.  Yet, there are still reasons for caution.  A "Circular of information " prepared jointly by three U.S.  blood agencies states on its first page:  "WARNING: Because whole blood components are made from human blood, they may carry a risk of transmitting infectious agents, eg, viruses. . .Careful donor selection and available laboratory tests no not eliminate the hazard."

Not without reason does Peter Carolan, the senior officer of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, says:  "Absolute guarantees on blood supplies can never be given."  He adds: "There will always be new infections for which at that moment there is no test." 

What if a new infectious agent were to appear-one that, like AIDS, remains in an undetectable carrier state for a a long time and is readily transmitted by means of blood?  Speaking at a medical conference in Prague, Czech Republic, in April 2005, Dr. Harvey G. Klein of the U.S. National Institutes of Healthy called that prospect  sobering.  He added: "The blood component collectors would be scarcely better prepared to interdict a transfusion-transmitted epidemic than they were during the early days of AIDS."

Next time: Transfusion Medicine - Is Its Future Secure? - Mistakes and Transfusion Reactions

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