Oversight and monitoring of blood safety in the United States

The US blood safety vigilance system is composed of a network of interwoven programs, now organized under a formal structure, with the Assistant Secre tary of Health and DHHS Blood Safety Committee bearing overall responsibili ty. It takes advantage of the breadth of expertise and close collaborative relationship of transfusion medicine and infectious disease scientists with in and outside of the government. Core elements include an array of ongoing surveillance programs for monitoring established as well as new and emergi ng infectious agents that may pose a risk to blood safety, and the existenc e of historical and contemporary repositories of donor and recipient specim ens that enable rapid investigation of putative new risks. This report summ arizes the historical events that shaped the US blood safety oversight syst em, reviews the current organization and decision-making processes related to blood safety issues, and highlights key surveillance systems and researc h programs which monitor the US and global blood supplies for known and pot ential emerging risks.