Document 0306
 DOCN  M9460306
 TI    The significance of the blood-borne viruses: blood banking and
       transfusion medicine.
 DT    9408
 AU    Sherwood WC; American Red Cross Blood Services, Penn Jersey Region,;
       Philadelphia, PA.
 SO    Dev Biol Stand. 1993;81:25-33. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/94229381
 AB    Most of the blood-borne infections that have held our attention during
       the last half of this century have been well characterized. Although HIV
       and the hepatitis viruses have enormous world-wide public health
       implications, there has been considerable success in their prevention of
       transmission by transfusion. The technology is available to treat and
       eliminate from virtually all non-cellular blood products the
       transmission of disease caused by those viruses for which we have had
       the greatest concern. However, for the cellular blood products the basic
       methods of prevention continue to be imperfect: donor selection and
       viral serological testing. The significance of the transmission of
       blood-borne agents by these products depends upon the frequency of the
       agent in the donor population and the serological screening performed.
       There is a marked degree of variation in frequency of these infections,
       dependent upon geography, living conditions, and life style. Data on the
       frequency of transfusion-transmitted disease are meagre and usually
       based upon indirect estimates. In the United States the frequency of the
       transmission of HIV by cellular blood products is estimated to be
       1:125,000 products transfused. A similar estimate for the transmission
       of hepatitis is 1:200 products transfused. For the developing countries,
       some of which experience the highest rates of hepatitis and HIV
       infection in their populations, data on the frequency of transfusion
       transmission are not generally available. In recent years, new evidence
       has stimulated interest in a few transfusion-transmissible diseases
       that, although uncommon from the public health perspective, have both
       real and potential transfusion impacts for the use of plasma and plasma
       derivatives as well as cellular products.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250
       WORDS)
 DE    Biological Products/ADVERSE EFFECTS  Blood/*MICROBIOLOGY  Blood
       Banks/*STANDARDS  Blood Transfusion/*ADVERSE
       EFFECTS/ECONOMICS/METHODS/STATISTICS &  NUMER DATA  Erythema
       Infectiosum/EPIDEMIOLOGY/PREVENTION & CONTROL/  TRANSMISSION  Hepatitis,
       Viral, Human/EPIDEMIOLOGY/PREVENTION & CONTROL/  TRANSMISSION
       Herpesviridae Infections/EPIDEMIOLOGY/PREVENTION & CONTROL/
       TRANSMISSION  Human  Incidence  Prion Diseases/EPIDEMIOLOGY/PREVENTION &
       CONTROL/TRANSMISSION  Retroviridae Infections/EPIDEMIOLOGY/PREVENTION &
       CONTROL/  TRANSMISSION  Risk  United States/EPIDEMIOLOGY
       Viremia/MICROBIOLOGY  Virus Diseases/EPIDEMIOLOGY/*PREVENTION &
       CONTROL/TRANSMISSION  Viruses/*ISOLATION & PURIF  JOURNAL ARTICLE
       REVIEW  REVIEW, TUTORIAL

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).