Inactivation of dengue, chikungunya, and Ross River viruses in platelet concentrates after treatment with ultraviolet C light

BACKGROUND: Arboviruses, including dengue (DENV 1-4), chikungunya (CHIKV), and Ross River (RRV), are emerging viruses that are a risk for transfusion safety globally. An approach for managing this risk is pathogen inactivation, such as the THERAFLEX UV-Platelets system. We investigated the ability of this system to inactivate the above mentioned arboviruses. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: DENV 1-4, CHIKV, or RRV were spiked into buffy coat (BC)-derived platelet (PLT) concentrates in additive solution and treated with the THERAFLEX UV-Platelets system at the following doses: 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, and 0.2 J/cm(2) (standard dose). Pre-and posttreatment samples were taken for each dose, and the level of viral infectivity was determined. RESULTS: At the standard ultraviolet C (UVC) dose (0.2 J/cm(2)), viral inactivation of at least 4.43, 6.34, and 5.13 log or more, was observed for DENV 1-4, CHIKV, and RRV, respectively. A dose dependency in viral inactivation was observed with increasing UVC doses. CONCLUSIONS: Our study has shown that DENV, CHIKV, and RRV, spiked into BC-derived PLT concentrates, were inactivated by the THERAFLEX UV-Platelets system to the limit of detection of our assay, suggesting that this system could contribute to the safety of PLT concentrates with respect to these emerging arboviruses.