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Leukocyte‐reduction to prevent transfusion‐transmitted cytomegalovirus infections
Author(s) -
Strauss Ronald G.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
pediatric transplantation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.457
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1399-3046
pISSN - 1397-3142
DOI - 10.1034/j.1399-3046.1999.00048.x
Subject(s) - medicine , cytomegalovirus , immunology , blood transfusion , antibody , transmission (telecommunications) , reduction (mathematics) , human cytomegalovirus , intensive care medicine , virology , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , virus , viral disease , herpesviridae , geometry , mathematics , electrical engineering , engineering
Certain infectious organisms, including cytomegalovirus, are associated ‘exclusively’ with blood leukocytes (WBC), and their transmission by transfusion is strikingly diminished by marked WBC‐reduction of cellular blood components. Based on several reports of WBC‐reduction, it is clear that the risk of CMV is nearly eliminated by consistently removing WBC to a level < 1–5 × 10 6 WBCs/unit (≤ 1 × 10 6 preferred in Europe; ≤ 5 × 10 6 in the United States). Alternatively, the rate of CMV infections is reduced by transfusing blood components collected from donors negative for CMV antibody. However, neither technique is perfect, with a failure rate of 1–4%. Although WBC‐reduction is favored by many experts, practitioners must choose the method that they believe to be most efficacious – being mindful that data do not exist to establish additive protection by combining WBC‐reduction and transfusion of blood components collected from antibody negative donors.