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In the developed world, with all-voluntary donations, self-exclusion and advanced screening assays, the risks of blood transfusion to recipients are very low. Although allogeneic blood transfusion has never been safer, the perception of the public, fed by the media, is that blood is becoming increasingly unsafe. Commercial companies are partly to blame for this distorted public perception because they are driven by the desire to increase the number and complexity of expensive screening tests and procedures with the justification that their participation will improve the safety of the blood supply. The reality is that any increased sophistication of testing or processes will accrue diminishing returns for considerably high costs. Because the current serious risks of blood transfusion are so low, it is difficult to quantify them and it is practically impossible to assess new measures to increase the safety of the blood supply. For example, there have only been 4 window period donations, with the possibility of transmitting HIV by transfusion in the UK since screening for anti-HIV started in 1985, i.e. 4 cases in > 45 million units of blood issued for transfusion.

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2004-11-17   |   1,827 visitas   |   Evalua este artículo 0 valoraciones

Vol. 140 Núm.3. Septiembre-Octubre 2004 Pags. 71-72 Gac Méd Méx 2004; 140(Supl. 3)