Bacterial Risk Mitigation Strategies for Platelets: Where Are We Now?

Despite numerous advances in risk mitigation, bacterial contamination of platelets remains a persistent issue. Numerous Food and Drug Administration-recommended mitigation strategies have reduced, but have not eliminated, risk of bacterially contaminated platelet transfusion. These strategies include blood diversion pouches, disinfection methods, pathogen reduction, or a variety of single-step or two-step testing options to identify bacterially contaminated units. Recently reported deaths owing to bacterially contaminated units that underwent pathogen reduction show that the technology, although beneficial, does not guarantee sterility. Recognizing the limitations of these strategies underscores the need for ongoing hemovigilance and diligent reporting to ensure platelet transfusion safety.