BACKGROUND Delayed, large‐volume bacterial culture and amotosalen/ultraviolet‐A light pathogen reduction are effective at reducing the risk of bacterial proliferation in platelet concentrates (PCs). Hemovigilance programs continue to receive reports of suspected septic transfusion reactions, most with low imputability. Here, we compile national hemovigilance data to determine the relative efficacy of these interventions. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS Annual reports from the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, and Belgium were reviewed between 2005 and 2016 to assess the risk of bacterial contamination and septic reactions. RESULTS Approximately 1.65 million delayed, large‐volume bacterial culture‐screened PCs in the United Kingdom and 2.3 million amotosalen/ultraviolet‐A–treated PCs worldwide were issued with no reported septic fatalities. One definite, one possible, and 12 undetermined/indeterminate septic reactions and eight contaminated “near misses” were reported with delayed, large‐volume bacterial cultures between 2011 and 2016, for a lower false‐negative culture rate than that in the previous 5 years (5.4 vs. 16.3 per million: odds ratio, 3.0; 95% confidence interval, 1.4‐6.5). Together, the Belgian, Swiss, and French hemovigilance programs documented zero probable or definite/certain septic reactions with 609,290 amotosalen/ultraviolet‐A–treated PCs (<1.6 per million). The rates were significantly lower than those reported with concurrently transfused, nonpathogen‐reduced PCs in Belgium (<4.4 vs. 35.6 per million: odds ratio, 8.1; 95% confidence interval,1.1‐353.3) and with historic septic reaction rates in Switzerland (<6.0 vs. 82.9 per million: odds ratio, 13.9; 95% confidence interval, 2.1‐589.2), and the rates tended to be lower than those from concurrently transfused, nonpathogen‐reduced PCs in France (<4.7 vs. 19.0 per million: odds ratio, 4.1; 95% confidence interval, 0.7‐164.3). CONCLUSION Pathogen reduction and bacterial culture both reduced the incidence of septic reactions, although under‐reporting and strict imputability criteria resulted in an underestimation of risk.

The present case illustrates the importance of introducing highly sensitive HBV NAT screening strategy to prevent possible HBV transfusion-transmitted infections from donors with low viral load.

<b>Background: </b>High-frequency blood group antigens (HFA) are present in >90% of the human population, according to some reports even in >99% of individuals. Therefore, patients lacking HFA may become challenging for transfusion support because compatible blood is hardly found, and if the patient carries alloantibodies, the cross-match will be positive with virtual every red cell unit tested. <b>Methods: </b>In this study, we applied high-throughput blood group SNP genotyping on >37,000 Swiss blood donors, intending to identify homozygous carriers of low-frequency blood group antigens (LFA). <b>Results: </b>326 such individuals were identified and made available to transfusion specialists for future support of patients in need of rare blood products.<b> Conclusion: </b>Thorough comparison of minor allele frequencies using population genetics revealed heterogeneity of allele distributions among Swiss blood donors which may be explained by the topographical and cultural peculiarities of Switzerland. Moreover, geographically localized donor subpopulations are described which contain above-average numbers of individuals carrying rare blood group genotypes.

Background: Data on blood donor status obtained from general surveys and health interview surveys have been widely used. However, the integrity of data on self-reported blood donor status from surveys may be threatened by sampling and non-sampling error. Our study aimed to compare self-reported blood donors (including one-time as well as regular donors) from the Swiss Health Survey 2012 (SHS) with register-based blood donors recorded by blood establishments and evaluate the direction and magnitude of bias in the SHS. Methods: We compared population-weighted SHS point estimates of the number of blood donors with their corresponding 95% confidence intervals to the respective figures from blood donor registries (birth cohorts 1978-1993) and estimates of donors based on period donor tables derived from blood donor registries (birth cohorts 1920-1993). Results: In the birth cohorts 1978-1993, the SHS-predicted number of donors was 1.8 times higher than the respective number of donors based on registry data. Adjusting for foreign and naturalized Swiss nationals that immigrated after their 18th birthday, the SHS overall predicted number of donors was 1.6 times higher. Similarly, SHS estimates for the 1920-1993 birth cohorts were 2.4 and 2.1 times higher as compared to register-based estimates. Generally, the differences between SHS and register-based donors were more pronounced in men than in women. Conclusion: Self-reported blood donor status in the SHS is biased. Estimates of blood donors are substantially higher than respective estimates based on blood donor registries.

Background: Currently, there is an extensive but highly inconsistent body of literature regarding donor adverse events (AEs) in haemapheresis. As the reports diverge with respect to types and grading of AEs, apheresis procedures and machines, the range of haemapheresis-related AEs varies widely from about 0.03% to 6.6%. Methods: The German Society for Transfusion Medicine and Immunohaematology (DGTI) formed a ‘Haemapheresis Vigilance Working Party' (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Hämapheresevigilanz; AGHV) to create an on-line registry for comprehensive and comparable AE assessment with all available apheresis devices in all types of preparative haemapheresis: plasmapheresis (PLS), plateletpheresis (PLT), red blood cell apheresis, all kind of leukaphereses (autologous/allogeneic blood stem cell apheresis, granulocyte apheresis, lymphocyte/monocyte apheresis) and all possible types of multi-component apheresis. To ensure the comparability of the data, the AGHV adopted the ‘Standard for Surveillance of Complications Related to Blood Donation' from the International Society for Blood Transfusion in cooperation with the International Haemovigilance Network (IHN) and the American Association of Blood Banks for AE acquisition and automated evaluation. The registry is embedded in a prospective observational multi-centre study with a study period of 7 years. Results: A preliminary evaluation encompassed the time period from January, 2012 to December, 2015. During this time, the system proved to be safe and stable. Out of approximately 345,000 haemaphereses 16,477 AEs were reported (4.9%) from 20 participating centres. The majority of AEs occurred in PLSs (63%), followed by PLT (34.5%) and SC (2.2%). Blood access injuries (BAI) accounted for about 55% of the supplied AEs, whereas citrate toxicity symptoms, vasovagal reactions and technical events (e.g. disposable leakages, software failures) rather equally affected haemaphereses at 8-15%. Out of 12,348 finalized AEs, 8,759 (70.1%) were associated with a procedure-related break-off, with BAI being the prevailing cause (5,463/8,759; 62.4%). An automated centre- and procedure-specific AE evaluation according to the latest IHN standard and AGHV pre-settings is available within a few minutes. Conclusions: An on-line electronic platform for comprehensive assessment and centre-specific automated evaluation of AEs in haemaphereses has been developed and proved to be stable and safe over a period of 4 years.