Blood safetyat what cost? [Editorial]
This editorial summarizes in a very concise way all the various aspects arising from the article of Heyns et al in the same issue of the journal. – Volker Kretschmer
Prevalence of HIV-1 in blood donations following implementation of a structured blood safety policy in South Africa.
A really interesting article about improvement of blood safety that everybody being active in this field should read. It shows the complexity of this subject: the prevalence of HIV infections depends on many factors that may relate to culture and socioeconomic status and may considerably differ between different countries, and therefore generalization is difficult. It […]
Emily Cooley Memorial Award. Managing change to improve transfusion safety.
An excellent discussion of the issue of how to inform the public, hospital staff and patients about the true risks of blood transfusion, and how to manage changes intended to improve transfusion safety. – Volker Kretschmer
Transmission of West Nile Virus through blood transfusion in the United States in 2002.
Important study showing that more than one third of donors show no symptoms although having viremia and transmitting West Nile virus. Therefore, nucleic-based assays for West-Nile Virus are necessary in countries with West Nile virus epidemiology. Although such a test was quickly introduced in the US, the West Nile Virus is an example for the […]
Perspective: emerging infections, transfusion safety, and epidemiology.
Quite nice comment on the article by Pealer and colleagues, and on the way West Nile Virus was handled in the US. – Volker Kretschmer