2020 Meeting Materials, Blood Products Advisory Committee
POSTPONED: April 2-3, 2020
On April 2, 2020, in the morning, the BPAC will meet in open session to discuss and make recommendations on strategies to reduce the risk of Zika virus (ZIKV) transmission by blood and blood components. The committee will discuss whether universal testing of blood donations for ZIKV is an appropriate strategy considering the decline of ZIKV cases in the U.S. and worldwide. In the afternoon, the committee will meet in open session to hear an update on the Transfusion Transmissible Infections Monitoring System (TTIMS). Sponsored by the FDA, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, TTIMS collects incidence, prevalence and risk factor data for certain transfusion-transmitted infections, including HIV, in U.S. blood donations.
On April 3, 2020, the committee will meet in open session to discuss and make recommendations on testing for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in blood donations. The committee will discuss whether testing for HBsAg can be discontinued considering the sensitivity of hepatitis B virus nucleic acid testing and hepatitis B anti-core testing of blood donations in the U.S.