Risk Management in Blood Transfusion: The Virtue of Reality

Since the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic, public and political perception of blood transfusion has been negatively coloured. As a result, blood banks and transfusion services have been forced into defensive positions. The balance has tipped to criticism, suspicion and mistrust, where the overwhelming positive effects of blood transfusion seem to have been forgotten or grossly neglected. This work offers an overview of the various aspects of risk perception in relation to blood transfusion. The authors discuss how to manage risk in blood transfusion. This book is composed of four major sections: the perception of risk; the management of infection-defined risk; the management of immune-defined risks; risk management in clinical practice.