Bacterial contamination of blood products

The occurrence of a septic reaction resulting from bacterial contamination of blood products, particularly with room-temperature stored platelets, is the most common transfusion-associated infectious risk in the United States. Bacterial contamination of blood products was first identified more than 60 years ago; yet, strategies to resolve this problem have proved daunting despite ongoing awareness and increasing concern especially in the last few years. With the recent US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of culture methods for quality control testing of platelet units and the promulgation of accreditation standards by the College of American Pathologists and American Association of Blood Banks to detect bacterially contaminated platelet units and to prevent transfusion of these units, blood banks and transfusion services have finally started to address this problem, in a more standardized manner. Furthermore, as new methods of interdicting, inactivating and detecting bacterially contaminated blood products emerge, it is hoped that the problem of bacterial contamination of blood products will be overcome.