Transfusion-related bacterial sepsis

Transfusion-related bacterial sepsis, although infrequent, is a serious and sometimes fatal transfusion complication. Several new studies confirm previous observations of the prevalence of contamination in red cell and platelet components. In addition, several recent reports have described the risk of bacterial contamination of hematopoietic progenitor preparations. Other studies have investigated potential interventions including development of alternative skin cleansing methods, alteration of whole blood storage time, cold storage of platelet suspensions, leukoreduction of red cells, development of rapid screening tests for bacteria, and a method for bacterial inactivation of platelet components. A generic approach to inactivation, such as those targeting bacterial nucleic acid, is particularly attractive because this method would not depend on the strain or source of contamination.