POOLED PLASMA WITH LITTLE OR NO RISK OF HOMOLOGOUS SERUM JAUNDICE

Abstract

Pooled plasma can be prepared with little or no risk of homologous serum jaundice if certain practices now employed in its preparation are discontinued. The high attack rate of homologous serum jaundice among plasma recipients is a function of certain self-evident errors introduced by the methods chosen for plasma storage. When pooled plasma is dried, frozen, or refrigerated, homologous serum jaundice develops in from 5 to 22% of the recipients receiving transfusion. If a contaminated plasma pool is lyophilized (dried), frozen, or refrigerated, the activity of its virus is preserved indefinitely.¹ The source of virus contamination in a pool of plasma is the occasional unit of plasma derived from a donor who is a carrier of the virus. The carrier donor cannot be excluded by a history negative for hepatitis or jaundice or by laboratory tests. Therefore, all pools of plasma stored under conditions favorable to virus survival are potentially