Costs and benefits of bacterial culturing and pathogen reduction in the Netherlands

BACKGROUND: Bacterial contamination is a life-threatening risk of blood transfusion, especially with platelet (PLT) transfusions. Bacterial culturing (BCU) of PLTs as well as pathogen reduction (PRT) reduce the likelihood of such contamination. The cost-effectiveness (CE) of these interventions was analyzed after the introduction of the diversion pouch during blood collection. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: The balance between costs and benefits of preventing adverse events due to PLT transfusion was assessed with a mathematical decision model and Monte Carlo simulations. Model parameters were obta... Mehr ...