Biomerieux has been chosen by National Health Service Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) to provide its Bact/Alert 3D system for the bacterial screening of platelets in England and North Wales.
Although rare, bacteria may enter a blood pack during either the donation process or during manufacture and storage.
Platelets are stored at 22C and are continually agitated, which makes them an ideal media for bacteria to grow in.
Approximately 280,000 adult therapeutic doses of platelets are produced per annum.
Without screening, platelets have a shelf life of just five days; this is because longer storage times increase the risk of bacterial proliferation, which could lead to sepsis and impact patient prognosis.
By screening platelets 36 hours after donation, any bacteria present will have had sufficient time to grow to a detectable limit.
This has the dual benefits of allowing the shelf life to be increased to seven days and increasing patient safety.
Ian Reeves, national strategy manager for NHSBT, said: 'After careful consideration of all the tenders received, Biomerieux's Bact/Alert 3D system was selected to maintain the bacterial safety of our platelet products.
'We will commence screening at our pilot site later this year and should be able to go live early in 2011,' he added.
