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Blood products have been tested for viruses for years. Due to the evolution of viral testing technology, the current risk of viral transmission (e.g. HIV) by blood transfusions is very low. The bacterial risk, however, did not get as much attention as the viral risk over the years. This is in contrast to the high bacterial risk in e.g. platelet products that is 250 fold higher than the combined risk of all viruses tested in blood products! Platelet products are at high risk because storage conditions at room temperature facilitate bacterial growth. Also, the patient population receiving platelet products is very vulnerable to bacterial contamination because they often are in serious clinical conditions, receive multiple transfusions and are often immune-suppressed. Bacteria contaminating blood products can originate from the blood donor’s arm during the blood drawing process, from the donor blood (if the blood donor is an asymptomatic carrier of bacteria) and from the environment during processing of blood products.
Microbiological detection and control is a relatively new scientific area for the blood collection industry worldwide. Certain European countries started adding bacterial testing of all platelet products at the end of the 90’s and more recently, the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) included bacterial testing of all platelet products into their standards in March 2004.
FOCUS ON BACTERIAL SAFETY OF BLOOD PRODUCTS IN CHINA
In September 2003, bioMérieux had the honor to be invited by the director of the Chinese Association of Blood Transfusion to cooperate in their continuous education program for the May 2004 session. This two-day session was completely devoted to the bacterial safety of blood products and was organized under the auspices of the Chinese ministry of health.
The bacterial safety session was organized in Hangzou and the majority of all Chinese blood banks were represented with 230 attendees in total! Three well acknowledged international scientists handled the full scope of bacterial contamination of blood products: Prof. Dr. J. Marcelis (clinical microbiologist and medical advisor of the Dutch Sanquin blood supply organization), .Prof. Dr. S. Wendel (medical doctor and blood bank director of Hopital Sirio Libanes, Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Mr. T. de Natris (global product manager blood banks, bioMérieux).
The continuous education program of the Chinese Blood Transfusion Association proved to be an excellent platform to exchange and share information in the field of microbiological detection and control in the blood collection industry. bioMérieux will continue to partner with the Chinese blood bank industry in the future to help in further increasing the safety of patients receiving blood products.
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For the food industry, protecting consumer health through food safety measures is a key issue. To prevent any risk of pathogen contamination, food plants closely monitor the safety of their products, from raw materials to the release of the final product. Furthermore, to support their "risk control programs", they test the production environment to ensure their food products are also free from external contamination. The main pathogens tested are Salmonella, Listeria and E. coli O157 (see below for more information).
Although the consumer can take simple hygiene precautions (thorough cooking of foods, hand-washing, refrigeration) to avoid infection by these pathogens, it is obviously preferable to ensure that contaminated food products are not released from the production plant in the first place. Testing for these pathogens in food products before they reach the consumer market is an example of food safety management.
The French company bioMérieux provides a complete range of manual and automated solutions for the detection and identification of food-borne pathogens in the food and production environment:
TWO IMPORTANT FOOD PATHOGENS
1) Listeria
Listeria is a small pathogenic bacterium which can be found in dairy products (milk, cheese, …). A person can become infected by eating food contaminated with Listeria. A Listeria infection can cause severe pathologies (meningitis, septicemia) particularly in immuno-compromized populations (the elderly, young or people with depressed immune systems).
2) E coli O157
E. coli O157:H7 is an emerging cause of foodborne illness. It is only one of hundreds of strains of the bacterium Escherichia coli. Most strains are harmless, but this strain produces a powerful toxin and can cause severe illness. Infection by E. coli O157:H7 has largely been associated with eating undercooked, contaminated ground beef. Meat can become contaminated with the microorganism, which is present in the intestines of healthy cattle, during slaughter, and can then be mixed into beef when it is ground. Infection can also occur after drinking raw milk or sewage-contaminated water. Infection often leads to bloody diarrhea, and occasionally to kidney failure.
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