Avoid Point of Release Testing

Despite the implementation of early bacterial culture detection in some blood centres, bacterial contamination of platelets remains a significant risk. Some regulatory agencies including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have suggested secondary testing to mitigate the risk. If secondary testing becomes mandatory in the US, either pathogen inactivation can be performed in the blood centre (without requirement for secondary testing in the hospital) or early bacterial culture in the blood centre should be followed by point of release testing in the hospital if the platelets have a shelf life of 4 days or higher.

Pathogen inactivation with the INTERCEPT™ Blood System helps in avoiding the cost burden and complicated logistics of point of release testing.