R.I. Blood Center announces new process to ensure safer blood supply

PROVIDENCE – The blood supply in the United States is among the safest in the world, but how do blood centers protect patients from such harms as Zika, Ebola and strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria? Part of that protection, reported the Rhode Island Blood Center, lies in pathogen reduction, a process that RIBC has begun performing on donated platelets.

Advancements in screening and testing during the last several decades have enabled blood centers to greatly reduce the likelihood of blood contaminated with HIV and hepatitis from entering the donated-blood supply, RIBC reported. Pathogen reduction, a more proactive approach, is based on a simple premise: If it doesn’t belong there, it’s eliminated.

RIBC President and CEO Lawrence Smith said in the statement, “This is the next generation of blood product safety that donors can provide … [and] will also reduce potential risks not yet identified.”

Pathogen reduction uses INTERCEPT Blood System, which was developed by Cerus Corp., and reduces a broad spectrum of transfusion-transmitted pathogens blocking the replication process of DNA and RNA in living organisms, such as viruses, bacteria and parasites. Without that replication process, they can no longer multiply and cause disease.

- Advertisement -

Dr. Carolyn Young, RIBC vice president and chief medical officer, said in the statement, “The technology works by adding a solution to the platelets after your donation and exposing it to UV light. It eliminates the need for bacterial testing and prevents the donor’s white blood cells from making more white cells, which also blocks graft versus host disease [rejection of transfusion].”

While technologies making blood components safer continue to evolve, lifesaving blood transfusions are possible only with donors. During 2017, the RIBC anticipates needing approximately 1,000 new platelet donors to meet the need for pathogen-reduced platelets.

As January is National Volunteer Blood Donor month, Dunkin’ Donuts will provide all presenting donors in Rhode Island and Bristol County, Mass., with $5 gift cards, which can be redeemed at any area Dunkin’ Donuts. Last year, Dunkin’ Donuts sponsored 115 blood drives that resulted in 2,222 blood donations.

In Rhode Island, more than 370,000 people are eligible donors, but only about 5 percent of the population actually donates. More than 200 donations are needed each day in Rhode Island.

For more information on donating, visit ribc.org. For more information on making a platelet donation, visit ribc.org/platelets.

No posts to display