AABB Issues Emergent Standards to 33rd Edition of BB/TS Standards

AABB issued emergent standards to the 33rd edition of Standards for Blood Banks and Transfusion Services (BB/TS Standards) to reflect the new Food and Drug Administration guidance recommendations for individual donor assessment, issued on May 11. The emergent standards, outlined in Association Bulletin #23-03, update donor eligibility criteria requirements in Reference Standard 5.4.1A, donor qualification related to reducing the risk of HIV transmission.

These changes include the deferral of donors who have taken medications to prevent or treat HIV infection, deferrals of donors based on sexual contact history and revisions to the language for deferrals related to blood contact, tattoos, skin piercing and drug injection.

To assist facilities in their implementation of the updated BB/TS Standards and Donor History Questionnaire (DHQ) version 4.0 and accompanying materials, AABB has launched an Individual Donor Assessment Resource Library on the AABB website and created an Individual Donor Assessment and DHQ v4.0 Implementation Toolkit.

The changes to Reference Standards 5.4.1A may be implemented immediately; however, to remain in conformance with the 33rd edition of BB/TS Standards for accreditation purposes, AABB-accredited facilities must implement these changes by Jan. 1, 2024.

The changes described in this Association Bulletin are reflected in the 33rd edition of BB/TS Standards and the Standards Portal. Individuals with questions should contact the standards department at standards@aabb.org.