Kubanek B, Cardoso M, Glück D, Koerner K
DRK-Blutspendezentrale Ulm, BRD.
Infusionsther Transfusionsmed. 1993 Apr;20(1-2):54-9.
Assessment of the present risk of blood-borne infection associated with homologous blood transfusion in Central Europe with particular emphasis on HIV and HCV infections.
The relevant literature in the English and German language and the authors' data.
No special study has been carried out for the present paper.
The recognition of the risk for transmitting HIV by transfusion has led to a bundle of measures which have improved the safety of blood supply in Germany. A stricter donor selection as well as screening for HIV 1 and HIV 2 have reduced the risk to transmit HIV to the order of 1 per 1 million units transfused. The transmission of hepatitis B is estimated to be in the order of 1:50,000. The anti-HCV testing, introduced in 1990, has markedly reduced the transmission of HCV to less than 1:5,000 per unit as judged from our own data. A further reduction is expected by an improved HCV screening in the near future. Fatal disease from bacterial contamination is rare, with an estimated risk of one in a million units. Syphilis transmitted by transfusion is virtually not occurring anymore. However, increased efforts should continue to enhance the safety of blood, bearing in mind that a zero risk is not achievable for effective therapies. The estimation of risks is a dynamic, time-dependent value which has to be estimated for a geographically defined population for a given time period.
The risk of transfusion-associated infection has been markedly reduced in recent years. Albeit there is a small but definitive risk, which is often overestimated. The risks have to be defined to estimate the risk/benefit ratio of the homologous as well as the autologous transfusion for the individual patient.
