Australia tightens blood screening against pathogens:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has instructed the Australian Red Cross Blood Service to introduce stricter controls for blood monitoring to guard against newly-emerging pathogens. These include SARS, the West Nile virus and the Dengue Fever virus. These pathogens have only recently been regarded as relevant to the blood transfusion and include infectious agents that were previously not considered to be transfusion transmitted. They may also contain other agents that require further study before their risk to the blood supply can be assessed, said the TGA.