Insights

Despite the diligent implementation of strategies to minimize the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections, blood recipients, who are often vulnerable due to massive bleeding or immunosuppressive treatments are still at risk.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), in co-operation with the Italian National Blood Centre, organized an expert consultation meeting (April 2019) to discuss the potential role of pathogen inactivation technologies (PI) as a blood safety intervention during outbreaks of infectious diseases for which (in most cases) laboratory screening of blood donations is not...

The West Nile virus (WNV) is an enveloped RNA virus, well-known since 1937. Originally from Africa, it has now reached temperate climate zones. The virus mainly infects birds, but can also be transmitted to humans by mosquitoes – or by contaminated blood products!

In France, since 2010, the risk of HIV transmission by transfusion is reduced by the use of individual NAT.

Despite this testing approach, a false negative test result was obtained from a 57-year-old male repeat donor in March 2017, using the ProcleixUltrio assay. A repository sample from that donation tested positive with the Cobas Taqman HIV-1 (limit of detection at 95%, 17 copies/mL).

PresentationsCerus Satellite Symposium at ISBT Basel 2019

"Safeguarding the blood supply against (re)emerging pathogens. Balancing blood safety and economics"

Have you had the opportunity to join Cerus Satellite symposium on Tuesday June 25, 2019 at the ISBT in Basel? Regardless, we are pleased to share the presentations with you from the Cerus Symposium.