Investigation for bacterial contamination of blood products implicated in suspected transfusion-transmitted bacterial infection.

Changes in blood management practice over the past decade have substantially reduced the risk of bacterial contamination of blood products,1,2 however transfusion-transmitted bacterial infection (TTBI) remains the leading cause of transfusion-transmitted infection. For clinically apparent reactions, bacterial infections are reported to occur in at least 1:250,000 platelet transfusions and at least 1:1.5 million red cell transfusions.2 The true incidence of TTBI is probably underestimated, as estimates of incidence usually rely on passive surveillance mechanisms.