TRANSFUSION TRANSMITTED

INFECTIOUS AGENTS
• There must be an asymptomatic, infectious
phase in the blood donor
• Agent viability must be maintained during
storage
• There must be a seronegative recipient
population (showing no significant level of
sreum antibodies)
• The agent must be capable of inducing disease
following transtusion
1940, recognition that syphilis could be
transmitted by transfusion, routine testing
was implemented.

Later, viral hepatitis and HIV would become the

biggestconcerns.
In general, the following scheme is utilized:
1.each, every blood donation is tested. Testing
performed on a sample drawn at the time of a
donation, and donated units are placed in
quarantine until test results are completed,
deemed negative, and reviewed.
2.With the exception of most viral nucleic acid
testing (NAT), each sample is tested
individually.
3. non-reactive tests are considered to be
negative and the related blood unit and its
component may be released from quarantine
and issued as appropriate and needed.

4. Samples with initially positive tests are

retested in duplicate. If both of the repet test
results are non-reactive, the sample is
classified as negative. If one or both of the
repeat tests is reactive (“repeatedly
reactive”), the unit cannot be released for
transfusion and is destroyed.
5. Samples are repeatedly reactive undergo
confirmatoryor supplementary testing,
typically with different sensitivity and
specificity characteristics.
• Agents that can be transfusion-transmitted
Class Name Method
Viruses HIV Ab, Ag, NAT
HBV Ag, Ab, NAT
HCV Ab, NAT
WNV NAT
HTLV I/II Ab
CMV Ab, NAT
EBV AB
Bacteria T. pallidum Ab
Parasites T. cruzi Ab
• Selection of testing methodology
as described for HIV antibody, window period is
the time during which a blood product was
infectious but antibody could not be detected.

Virus can only be detected through NAT. It

positivity occur early in the course of
infection, while the generation of antibody
occurs sometime later following an immune
response.