• All donations must be able to be linked back to the donor, should the need arise.
  • Screening assays for infectious agents should be properly evaluated and validated.
  • Appropriate confirmatory testing must be available to investigate screen reactivity.
  • Data regarding screening and confirmatory tests must be reported to a centralised surveillance system, to allow monitoring of trends in screening reactivity and positive results.
  • Deferral criteria:
    • Positive for HIV/HBV/HCV/HTLV/syphilis, or sexual partners positive for any of these
    • Patients who have had acute HBV may be reinstated provided they meet criteria:
      • More than 12 months from recovery
      • HbsAg, HB core and HBV DNA negative 
      • If HB core positive: HBV DNA negative and anti-HBs > 100iu/l
    • HEV or WNV RNA positive: defer for six months and reinstate without further testing
      • HEV can be reinstated earlier than six months if HEV RNA negative and IgG positive
  • See links below for screening tests and algorithms for management if tests are positive.

JPAC Committee (Transfusion Red Book) Microbiology Screening, updated with 2016 Change Notification.