The risk of the transfer of infectious diseases or of malignancies to the patient due to the treatment with donor skin is reduced to a minimum by screening the donor’s medical history and testing the donor’s blood for a number of communicable diseases.
Donor skin that is infected will be rejected during the donor selection process or after the serology tests. These donor selection criteria are based on guidelines of the EU and the EATCB. When the donor skin is processed at the laboratory, an aseptic method is used.
In addition, the donor skin is tested for microbiological contamination. Glycerol has antibacterial and antiviral properties. Nevertheless, the risk of infection cannot be excluded for a full 100% because there may be micro-organisms that are as yet unknown or that cannot be detected using the current techniques.