What is donated blood screened for

Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Blood Safety Basics. Minus Related Pages. On This Page. Key Facts. Each day life-saving blood transfusions are needed in hospitals and emergency treatment facilities across the U.

There are more than Source: Continued decline in blood collection and transfusion in the United States— external icon Most patients do not experience any side effects from blood transfusions.

On rare occasions, blood transfusions can cause adverse reactions in the patients receiving blood. Although the U. Each donor is screened for risk of transmissible disease by questionnaire, and each unit of blood donated in the U. Screening Donated Blood. For the general public, pathogens and lab tests used to detect them in donated blood. Adverse Reactions Associated with Blood Transfusions.

Allergic reaction An allergic reaction results from an interaction of an allergen in the transfused blood with preformed antibodies in the person receiving the blood transfusion.

Acute hemolytic transfusion reaction AHTR An acute hemolytic transfusion reaction is the rapid destruction of red blood cells that occurs during, immediately after, or within 24 hours of a transfusion when a patient is given an incompatible blood type. Delayed hemolytic transfusion reaction DHTR A delayed hemolytic transfusion reaction occurs when the recipient develops antibodies to red blood cell antigens between 24 hours and 28 days after a transfusion.

Delayed serologic transfusion reaction DSTR A delayed serologic transfusion reaction occurs when a recipient develops new antibodies against red blood cells between 24 hours and 28 days after a transfusion without clinical symptoms or laboratory evidence of hemolysis. Febrile non-hemolytic transfusion reaction FNHTR Febrile non-hemolytic transfusion reactions are the most common reaction reported after a transfusion.

Hypotensive transfusion reaction A hypotensive transfusion reaction is a drop in systolic blood pressure occurring soon after a transfusion begins that responds quickly to cessation of the transfusion and supportive treatment. Transfusion-associated circulatory overload TACO Transfusion-associated circulatory overload occurs when the volume of blood or blood components are transfused cannot be effectively processed by the recipient.

Transfusion-related acute lung injury TRALI Transfusion-related acute lung injury is a serious but rare reaction that occurs when fluid builds up in the lungs, but is not related to excessive volume of blood or blood products transfused. Transfusion-transmitted infection TTI A transfusion-transmitted infection occurs when a bacterium, parasite, virus, or other potential pathogen is transmitted in donated blood to the transfusion recipient. Get Email Updates. Transfusion Medicine. Patient Blood Management.

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Plasma Components. Platelet Components. Regulatory Resources for Transfusion Services. Chagas Disease. West Nile Virus. Zika Virus. You arrive for your blood donation appointment. Health history and mini physical are completed. For a whole blood donation, about 1 pint of blood is collected; several small test tubes of blood are also collected for testing. Your donation, test tubes and your donor record are labeled with an identical bar code label. Your donation is kept on ice before being taken to a Red Cross center for processing; the test tubes go to the lab.

At our processing center, information about your donation is scanned into a computer database. Most whole blood donations are spun in centrifuges to separate it into transfusable components: red cells, platelets, and plasma.

Plasma may be processed into components such as cryoprecipitate, which helps control the risk of bleeding by helping blood to clot. Red cells and platelets are leuko-reduced, which means your white cells are removed in order to reduce the possibility of the recipient having a reaction to the transfusion.

In parallel with Step 2, your test tubes arrive at a testing laboratory. A dozen tests are performed, to establish the blood type and test for infectious diseases.

Learn More About Tests Performed.