Since the ebbing of the AIDS epidemic, most persons have again taken blood transfusion safety for granted. Yet blood safety entails a meticulous and continuous process of surveillance, epidemiology, bacteriology, virology, risk assessment, assay development, quality assurance, and dissemination of information.
From hepatitis B (the first known blood transfusion–related viral disease) to the newly emerging infections of the 21st century, this book encompasses the history and science of the heroic efforts to keep blood safe. The book is edited by 3 experts in microbiology (Barbara), hematology (Regan), and transfusion medicine (Contreras). Twenty-eight chapters are written by 45 physicians and scientists, mostly in the United Kingdom.