title: Risks of blood transfusion.
abstract: This article discusses advances in blood safety during the last 20 years, particularly for prevention of transfusion-transmitted viral infections. Although the most serious known risks from blood transfusion are administrative errors, transfusion-related acute lung injury, and bacterial contamination in platelet products, infection from emerging pathogens such as West Nile virus emphasizes the need for implementing proactive strategies. Pathogen inactivation technologies and reactive strategies such as nucleic acid testing ensure continued advances in blood safety.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, 300 Pasteur Drive, H-1402 Stanford, CA 94305-5324, USA. ltgoodno@stanford.edu
authors.forename: Lawrence T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Goodnough
mesh_terms: D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000635:transmission; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000635:transmission; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D019300:Medical Errors; D012128:Respiratory Distress Syndrome / Q000209:etiology; D012306:Risk; D065227:Transfusion Reaction