The spectrum of safety: a review of the safety of current hemophilia products.

The safety of whole blood and blood products has been ensured by several different mechanisms introduced over the years, each of which reduces the risk of blood-borne infectious diseases. An exhaustive donor selection and screening process aims to exclude individuals at risk for infectious disease, and numerous screening tests are used to detect infectious pathogens in collected blood. During processing, blood is further subjected to various removal or inactivation procedures directed against specific pathogens, as well as additional screening with nucleic acid testing or polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assays. Despite these measures, sporadic cases of infection continue to occur, caused by both known pathogens and newly emergent ones. Other challenges remain to be met, including the detection of infectious blood donated during the seronegative window period of infection and the rapid identification of and screening for emerging infectious diseases.