Oxygen measurements in platelet fluids - a new non-invasive method to detect bacterial contaminations in platelets

Background: The residual risk for bacterial contamination in blood components especially in platelets is one to two orders of magnitude higher than for transfusion relevant viral infections. The majority of all bacterial transmitted fatalities occurred at the end of platelet shelf life. Therefore, the maximum shelf life of platelet concentrates (PC) was reduced to 4 days after blood donation in Germany in 2008. Methods: A new continuous non-invasive bacterial detection method was developed by O ₂ measurements in the platelet fluids and tested with 10 transfusion relevant bacteria species. Results: The bacterial concentration at the time point of a positive signal of PreSense O ₂ ranged between 10 ² and 10 ⁵ CFU mL ^-1. Harmful transfusion-transmitted bacterial infection would have probably been prevented by this novel technology. Only strict anaerobic bacteria strains like Clostridium perfringens were not detected within the study period of 72 h. Conclusions: The described non-invasive bacterial detection method represents a new approach to prevent transmission of bacterial infection in platelets. The method is characterised by the advantage that all investigations can be performed until right up to the time of transfusion, and therefore, reduce the risk for sample errors to a minimum.