Two-year experience with aerobic culturing of apheresis and whole blood-derived platelets.

Background: Throughout its system of regional centers, Blood Systems implemented culture based bacterial testing with a standardized protocol for both apheresis and whole blood-derived platelets (PLTs).

Study Design And Methods: After a 24-hour hold, 4 mL of PLT product was inoculated into an aerobic bottle (BacT/ALERT, bioMérieux). Cultures were incubated for 24 hours before routine product release to prevent distribution of infected products while minimizing consignee notification, product retrievals, and hospital PLT inventory problems.