Transfusion Microbiology

The field of transfusion microbiology is of particular importance since the use of blood, which is still the only source of human blood, as a life-saving medical product when necessary, concerns all parties and processes in terms of patient safety.
Microbiology has always been intertwined with transfusion medicine from the very beginning. With our current knowledge, viral hepatitis and later HIV have been observed as inevitable and persistent complications of transfusions long after the onset and development of transfusion. For more than four decades, blood centers have struggled with the control of these and other transfusion-transmitted microorganisms. In the years before the routine screening of hepatitis (especially hepatitis C), blood transfusions were accepted as the main mode of transmission of these agents. Subsequent HIV transmission could also be a major transfusion tragedy.
All these have taught us that the process must be managed with serious actions in ensuring blood transfusion safety. Today, even more unpredictable factors have emerged, and it seems that they will continue to emerge and besiege humanity.