BD issued the following announcement on April 8.
BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (NYSE: BDX), a leading global medical technology company, today announced the global availability of BD BACTEC™ platelet quality control media, which allows microbiology laboratories, blood banks and transfusion services to identify contaminated platelet units.
An estimated 12 million apheresis platelet donations are collected each year.1 Platelets are associated with a higher risk of sepsis and related fatality than any other transfusable blood component.2 The World Health Organization (WHO), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) have introduced guidelines and protocols for the detection of bacterial contamination in platelet donations, helping to reduce septic transfusion reactions and related fatalities by an estimated 50 to 70 percent.3,4,5
"The availability of the BD BACTEC platelet quality control media allows clinicians the opportunity to identify potentially contaminated platelet donations by using a culture-based methodology, helping to reduce the risk of sepsis," said Gerald Denys, Ph.D., senior research professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine.
BD BACTEC™ platelet quality control media is part of a comprehensive solution leveraging the automated BD BACTEC™ FX technology and BD Synapsys™ microbiology informatics solution to help laboratories meet culture-based platelet testing requirements. The recent FDA 510(k) clearance of BD BACTEC™ platelet quality control media adheres to FDA guidelines for culture-based methods and meets requirements of the CE-IVD directive. The product can be used for quality control testing of leukocyte reduced apheresis platelet (LRAP) units, both leukocyte reduced single and a pool of up to six units of leukocyte reduced whole blood platelet concentrates (LRWBPC).
"The addition of BD BACTEC platelet quality control media builds on our legacy of offering accurate and cost-effective solutions through our BD BACTEC portfolio," said Steve Conly, vice president, general manager of microbiology for BD. "By offering this FDA cleared product, we hope to help our customers better serve some of their most vulnerable patients while minimizing the health and financial burdens associated with sepsis."
BD BACTEC™ platelet quality control media is now available globally. Visit https://go.bd.com/Platelet-media.html for more information.
About BD BACTEC™ Solutions
BD BACTEC™ blood culture system, offering a scalable footprint, helps clinicians diagnose bloodstream infections with a range of blood culture media and instrumentation. Coupled with a wide variety of culture media formulations, BD provides screening for microorganisms present in blood and blood components. BD BACTEC™ FX instruments powered by BD Synapsys™ microbiology informatics solution may enhance laboratory's ability to track samples and report results with an intuitive, browser-based interface.
Original source can be found here.
