in the preparation of blood - derived biopharmaceuticals , it is desirable for the processes involved to either remove or inactivate ( i . e ., kill ) at least several log cycles of microbial infectivity . whether a partial killing of microorganisms ( e . g ., a bactericidal or viricidal processes ) or a total killing of microorganisms ( e . g ., a sterilizing process ) such inactivation provides some assurance that adventitious agents , including contaminants that may be introduced by the starting material , are not present in the final product . the method of the present invention may be carried out with a fixative selected from the group consisting of formaldehyde , paraformaldehyde and glutaraldehyde . fixation with such agents requires careful modification of the procedure set forth in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 287 , 087 to avoid loss of viability of the platelets . in general , washed platelets are fixed by incubating them , typically at room temperature , for up to 60 minutes ( and preferably at least 30 or 45 minutes , with some viruses being inactivated in as little as 30 minutes ) in a solution of up to 1 . 8 % fixative ( preferably , from 1 to 2 % fixative ). as discussed in greater detail below , care must also be taken to sufficiently fix the platelets or undue lysis will occur during drying thereof . an alternative technique is to fix platelets by incubating the platelets in a permanganate solution ( e . g ., sodium permanganate , potassium permanganate ). in general , washed platelets may be prepared by this technique by incubating them for from 5 to 20 minutes in from 0 . 001 to 1 g / dl of kmno 4 or namno 4 solution , more preferably by incubating them for from 5 to 15 minutes in from 0 . 005 to 0 . 5 g / dl of kmno 4 or namno 4 solution , and most preferably by incubating them for 8 to 12 minutes in from 0 . 005 to 0 . 05 g / dl of kmno 4 or namno 4 solution . blood platelet preparations for use in preparing pharmaceutical formulations should be essentially free of extraneous matter , particularly lysed blood platelets which would present free thrombogenic agents to a patient administered the preparation . hence , care must be taken to sufficiently fix the platelets ( without destroying the viability thereof , as indicated by the characteristics set forth above ) prior to drying , as undue lysis will otherwise occur during the drying step . for example , platelet preparations suitable for use in preparing human pharmaceutical formulations preferably show , on reconstitution of 10 9 platelets in one milliliter of solution , less than 10 × 10 6 microparticles ( the fragmentary remains of lysed platelets ) per milliliter , and preferably show less than 150 international units ( iu ) per liter of lactate dehydrogenase in the supernatant after resuspension and pelleting ( where 2200 iu per liter represents total lysis of 10 9 cells in 1 milliliter ). drying of platelets after fixation may be carried out by any suitable means , but is preferably carried out by lyophilization . care must be taken to stabilize the platelet preparation prior to drying as an unacceptable level of platelet lysis may otherwise occur . stabilization may be carried out by suspending the platelets in a solution containing a suitable water replacing molecule ( or &# 34 ; stabilizer &# 34 ;), such as albumin or trehalose , and then drying the solution . in one embodiment , from 0 . 1 to 20 percent by weight albumin is employed , more preferably from 1 to 10 percent by weight albumin is employed , and most preferably from 5 to 10 percent by weight albumin is employed . for administration to a subject , the albumin in the preparation should be of the same species as the subject ( e . g ., human albumin ). in the alternative , the preparation may be dried with albumin of a different species , the albumin separated from the platelets on reconstitution , and albumin of the same species added back to the reconstituted preparation for administration to the subject , but care should be taken to remove all non - species specific albumin as it may be antigenic in the subject being treated . pharmaceutical formulations of the present invention may simply comprise dried ( preferably lyophilized ) platelets , pyrogen - free and sterile in a sterile aseptic package . albumin may be included , as noted above . pharmaceutical formulations may also comprise a platelet preparation of the present invention reconstituted in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier . any aqueous carrier which rehydrates the platelets so that they possess the characteristics enumerated above and are suitable for intravenous injection may be used ( e . g ., sterile , pyrogen free , physiological saline solution ). additional agents , such as buffers , preservatives , and other therapeutically active agents , may also be included in the reconstituted formulation . see , e . g ., u . s . pat . no . 4 , 994 , 367 ( the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference ). reconstituted pharmaceutical formulations of the present invention are typically administered to human patients by intravenous injection . patients in need of such treatment include patients afflicted with thrombocytopenia ( including washout thrombocytopenia ), patients afflicted with hemorrhagic platelet dysfunction , and trauma victims experiencing severe bleeding . the amount of the pharmaceutical formulation administered will vary depending upon the weight and condition of the patient , but will typically range from 20 to 350 milliliters in volume , and from 1 × 10 9 to 3 × 10 9 platelets per milliliter ( and more preferably from 2 × 10 9 to 3 × 10 9 platelets per milliliter ) in concentration . pharmaceutical formulations may be packaged in a sterile , pyrogen free container to provide these volumes and dosages as a unit dose . the present invention is explained in greater detail in the following examples . these examples are for illustrative purposes only , and are not to be taken as limiting of the invention . a . preparation of lyophilized human platelets ( protocol 1 ). human platelets are prepared from blood drawn into acid citrate dextrose ( acd ) anticoagulant ( 0 . 085m trisodium citrate , 0 . 0702m citric acid , 0 . 111m dextrose , ph 4 . 5 ), one part anticoagulant to 5 . 66 parts blood . platelets were isolated by differential centrifugation and washed three times with acid citrate saline ( 0 . 00544m trisodium citrate , 0 . 154m nacl , adjusted to ph 6 . 5 with 0 . 1n hcl ). after washing , platelets are fixed by incubating the washed platelets from 100 ml of blood in 5 . 0 ml of 1 . 8 % paraformaldehyde solution ( prepared as 9 . 0 ml 4 % paraformaldehyde solution plus 1 . 0 ml acd plus 10 . 0 ml 0 . 135m nah 2 po 4 ) for 45 minutes at room temperature ( the fixation time may be extended to 60 minutes ). an alternative is to incubate the washed platelets from 100 ml of blood in a 1 . 0 % paraformaldehyde solution for 45 minutes at room temperature ( the fixation time may be extended to 60 minutes ). to remove the paraformaldehyde , after paraformaldehyde incubation , an equal volume of imidazole buffered saline ( 0 . 084m imidazole ; 0 . 146m nacl , adjusted to ph 6 . 8 with 1 . 0n hcl ), is added to each tube and the platelets pelleted by centrifugation at 1500 times g for 8 minutes at room temperature . the supernatant is decanted and the platelets washed by resuspending the platelet pellets in 5 - 10 ml imidazole buffered saline ph 7 . 35 . the wash is repeated twice more to remove the paraformaldehyde . following the third wash the platelets are resuspended in a 5 % solution of serum albumin ( 5 gm albumin per 100 ml of citrate saline solution , 0 . 0054m sodium citrate , 0 . 154m nacl , ph 6 . 5 ). the platelets are counted using a phase contrast microscope and an american optical bright - line hemocytometer . the platelet concentration is adjusted to 800 , 000 per cubic millimeter ( cmm ). aliquots ( 10 ml ) of concentration - adjusted platelets in the serum albumin solution are placed in 20 ml glass vials and frozen at - 70 ° c . the platelets are then lyophilized for 12 hours or until a cracked , white powder is evident . the platelet product can also be shell frozen in large quantities of 100 to 500 ml and lyophilized at - 40 ° c . for four hours , after which the temperature is raised to - 25 ° c . for the duration of the drying time . the lyophilized product is stored at - 20 ° c . to - 70 ° c . until use . lyophilized platelets are rehydrated with 0 . 084m imidazole buffer ( no salt added ), adjusted to a ph of 7 . 35 with 1 . 0m naoh . after addition of imidazole buffer , the solution is allowed to sit , undisturbed for several minutes , then gently mixed by rolling or rotating the vial to produce an even suspension of rehydrated single platelets . b . preparation of lyophilized human platelets ( protocol 2 ). whole blood is obtained from healthy volunteer donors into commercial blood collection packs ( fenwal 4r6402 , baxter health care ) containing its standard complement of anticoagulant ( cpda - 1 ). the final volume of each unit of citrated whole blood collected is 500 cc . each bag of whole blood is centrifuged to obtain platelet - rich plasma ( prp ), which is aspirated from the bag and washed by three centrifugation / resuspension steps in phosphate - buffered saline solution ( same as described in a above ). the washed platelets are then centrifuged again and the pellet treated with a buffered solution containing 1 . 8 % paraformaldehyde ( same as described in a above ) for from 45 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature . the yield of platelets after removal of the stabilization reagent and further platelet washing to remove paraformaldehyde is 60 - 80 % of the count in the platelet suspension prior to stabilization . when albumin is not included in the washing buffer after stabilization , then the platelet yield falls . the composition of the final platelet resuspension before freeze - drying is important to obtaining appropriate yields . in general , an effective amount of a stabilizer such as albumin or trehalose in buffered saline is necessary to obtain yields of 85 - 100 % of the platelets through the lyophilization / rehydration steps . albumin should be included in an amount ranging from 0 . 1 to 50 g / dl , more preferably an amount ranging from 1 to 25 g / dl , and most preferably in an amount ranging from 5 - 10 g / dl . trehalose should be included in an amount ranging from 0 . 1 - 10 . m , more preferably from 0 . 2 to 5m , and most preferably from 0 . 5 - 1 . 0m . several types of rehydration solutions have been employed without noticeable differences in parameter outcomes : phosphate - buffered saline ph = 7 . 3 , tris - buffered saline ph = 7 . 4 , imidazole - buffered saline , or unisol ™ physiologic balanced salt solution . the purpose of this study was to demonstrate the kinetics of bacterial inactivation by 1 . 8 % paraformaldehyde in the platelet preservation process . twelve bags of platelets were obtained from the american red cross . bacillus cereus was injected in each bag to obtain a final concentration of 50 colony forming units ( cfu )/ ml in all units . platelets from six of the bags were processed into lyophylilized platelets as described in example 1 , protocol 1 , above and returned to a platelet storage bag . the six other samples remained in the original storage bag . all bags were followed for seven days with daily quantitative bacterial cultures ( serial dilutions with 0 . 1 ml spread on a blood agar plate and incubated at 37 ° c . for 48 hours in duplicate ) until grossly contaminated . result : bacillus cereus grew in all six routinely stored units , but not in the processed platelets . in a second experiment , six bags of platelets were inoculated with staphylococcus epidermis to a final concentration of 50 cfu / ml . each platelet bag was divided into two equal samples . one sample from each platelet bag was processed through the fixing and washing steps described in example 1 , protocol 1 , and then returned to a new platelet storage bag . the remaining samples were stored normally . result : in the samples that were not processed , s . epidermis growth was seen in all bags by day 3 of storage . previous experiments have shown that s . epidermis inoculated to a final concentration of 50 cfu / ml in a platelet unit results in growth in 100 % of units by day 7 . see , e . g ., m . brecher et al ., transfusion 34 , 750 - 755 ( 1994 ). platelets processed through the fixing and washing steps described in example 1 remained sterile through the entire 7 day observation period . in this study , model viruses representing a wide range of viral characteristics were tested for inactivation at five separate time points by incubation with 1 . 8 % paraformaldehyde , essentially as described in example 1 above . the following viruses , which represent a range of biophysical and structural features that may reflect those of potential contaminants in the starting material were selected for this study : 1 ) bovine viral diarrhea virus ( bvd , strain ky - 22 ) is a 40 - 70 nm , enveloped , rna - containing virus . recent studies of the viral genome and physical characteristics of hepatitis c virus ( hcv , formerly known as non - a and non - b hepatitis ) have shown it to be a member of the flavivirus family , most closely related to the pestivirus genus . since hcv cannot be propagated in vitro , and there are no animal models available for hcv infection other than chimpanzees , bvd has been used as a model for hcv in process validation studies . 2 ) encephalomyocarditis virus ( emc , strain emc ) is a 28 - 30 nm , nonenveloped , rna - containing picornavirus which is very resistant to many standard virus inactivation techniques . this virus is from the same family as hepatitis a virus , and thus serves as a good model for this virus . 3 ) human immunodeficiency virus ( hiv , strain htlv - iiib ) is an 80 - 100 nm , enveloped , rna - containing retrovirus which is a potential contaminant of human blood . hiv is titrated in vitro by a cem - a syncytium assay . upon infection with hiv , cem - a cells develop easily - detectable multinucleated cells or syncytia in 7 - 10 days . all work involving hiv is performed is quality biotech &# 39 ; s bsl - 3 facility . the aliquots of sterile starting material ( platelets in citrate / saline buffer ) were prepared as described above . the test material was stored at 22 ° c . - 28 ° c . aliquots of 4 % paraformaldehyde , 0 . 135m sodium phosphate buffer , acd buffer , and imidazole / saline buffer were stored at room temperature . in a preliminary study , the test material to be used in this study was tested for toxicity to the bt - 1 indicator cells used for titration of bvd , the vero indicator cells used for titration of emc , and the cem - a indicator cells used for titration of hiv - 1 . for each virus , the following test samples were tested for toxicity : upon initiation of testing , 1 . 8 ml of &# 34 ; platelet solution before paraformaldehyde treatment &# 34 ; ( pv - 001 ) was &# 34 ; mock spiked &# 34 ; with 0 . 2 ml of virus resuspension buffer . 1 . 8 ml of 4 % paraformaldehyde was then added . this generated samples pv - 004 , pv - 006 , and pv - 008 . a second aliquot was prepared by &# 34 ; mock spiking &# 34 ; 3 . 3 ml of platelet solution ( pv - 001 ) with 0 . 7 ml of virus resuspension buffer . this generated samples pv - 003 , pv - 005 , and pv - 007 . all samples were tested in duplicate for cytotoxicity to the appropriate indicator cells at full strength , and at 10 - fold , and 100 - fold dilutions ( in emem - eagle &# 39 ; s minimal essential medium ) via the standard titration protocol appropriate for each virus ( see section 4 . 60 ). samples which caused the indicator cells monolayers to be less than 50o confluent were considered cytotoxic . the results of the preliminary toxicity studies showed a significant level of toxicity in the samples containing paraformaldehyde . therefore , additional samples were submitted consisting of platelets after paraformaldehyde treatment and paraformaldehyde removal by centrifugation and washing . these samples were tested directly ( without &# 34 ; mock spiking &# 34 ;) for toxicity as described above . this generated samples pv - 032 , pv - 033 , and pv - 034 . for each of the viruses assayed , the following test samples were generated : starting material ( 3 . 6 ml of platelets in citrates / saline buffer ) that was at 25 °± 3 ° c . was spiked with 0 . 4 ml of high titer virus . the sample was adjusted to ph 6 . 8 - 7 . 6 , and divided into two equal aliquots . one aliquot was frozen immediately at or below - 70 ° c . to serve as a backup . the remaining aliquot was immediately tested using the appropriate virus titration protocol as described in section e below . this served as the &# 34 ; t initial &# 34 ; sample . 21 . 6 ml of starting material ( platelets in citrate / saline buffer ) at 25 °± 3 ° c . was centrifuged at 800 × g for 8 minutes at 25 °± 3 ° c . to pellet the platelets . a 2 . 0 % paraformaldehyde solution was freshly prepared by mixing 12 . 5 ml of 4 % paraformaldehyde with 11 . 5 ml of 0 . 135m sodium phosphate buffer , and 1 . 0 ml of acd buffer . after removing the citrate / saline supernatant , the pelleted platelets were resuspended in 21 . 6 ml of the freshly prepared 2 . 0 % paraformaldehyde solution . this platelet suspension was spiked with 2 . 4 ml of high titer virus to bring the paraformaldehyde concentration to 1 . 8 %. the spiked starting material with 1 . 8 % paraformaldehyde was then divided into three 4 ml aliquots and one 10 ml aliquot , and the samples were incubated at 25 °± 3 ° c . in a water bath . the temperature of the water bath ( 25 °± 3 ° c .) was monitored and recorded . for the t 30 minutes , t 1 hour , and t 1 . 5 hours time points ( times are ± 1 minute ), the 4 ml samples were removed . four ml of imidazole buffered saline was added to each 4 ml aliquot . these samples were inverted three times and centrifuged at 800 × g for 8 minutes at 25 °± 3 ° c . the supernatant was poured off and the platelets were resuspended in 4 ml of imidazole / saline buffer . the samples were inverted three times and centrifuged at 800 × g for 8 minutes at 25 °± 3 ° c . this washing step was repeated two more times . after the final centrifugation , 4 ml of imidazole / saline buffer was used to resuspend the platelets . the samples were then divided into two equal aliquots . one aliquot was frozen immediately at or below - 70 ° c . to serve as a backup . the remaining aliquot was tested immediately using the appropriate virus titration protocol as described in section e below . for bvd and emc , 0 . 5 ml of the undiluted and diluted samples was plated in each of 3 wells for a total of 1 . 5 ml . for hiv , 0 . 2 ml of the undiluted and diluted samples was plated in each of 4 wells ( for a total of 0 . 8 ml ). for the t 2 hours time point ( times ± 1 minute ), the 10 ml sample was removed . ten ml of imidazole buffered saline was added to each 10 ml aliquot . these samples were inverted three times and centrifuged at 800 × g for 8 minutes at 25 °± 3 ° c . the supernatant was poured off and the platelets were resuspended in 10 ml of imidazole / saline buffer . the samples were inverted three times and centrifuged at 800 × g for 8 minutes at 25 °± 3 ° c . this washing step was repeated two more times . after the final centrifugation , 10 ml of imidazole / saline buffer was used to resuspend the platelets . the samples were then divided into two equal aliquots . one aliquot was frozen immediately at or below - 70 ° c . to serve as a backup . the remaining aliquot was tested immediately at or below - 70 ° c . to serve as a backup . the remaining aliquot was tested immediately using the appropriate virus titration protocol as described in section e below . for bvd and emc , 0 . 5 ml of the undiluted samples was plated in each of 8 wells for a total of 4 ml . for hiv , 0 . 2 ml of the undiluted samples was plated in each of 20 wells ( for a total of 4 ml ). all diluted samples were plated as described above for the first four time points . ( 1 ) stock virus controls . for each virus , stock virus solution served as the positive control . ( 2 ) negative controls the cell culture medium used for each virus titration served as a negative control for each assay . upon initiation of viral titrations , one aliquot of each sample and control ( the other was reserved as a backup ) was diluted in cell culture medium to the end point ( 10 0 , 3 - fold , 10 - 1 , 10 - 2 , 10 - 3 , 10 - 4 , 10 - 5 , 10 - 6 , 10 - 7 , and 10 - 8 , as appropriate ). each dilution was tested for infectious viral particles by the standard virus titration protocol , as described below for each virus . bvd : each dilution of bvd - containing samples was assayed for infectious viral particles by the bvd plaque assay using bovine turbinate ( bt ) indicator cells . fmc : each dilution of emc - containing samples was assayed for infectious viral particles by the emc plaque assay using vero indicator cells . hiv : each dilution of hiv - containing samples was assayed for infectious viral particles by the cem - a syncytium assay using cem - a indicator cells . the test was valid . the positive controls displayed evidence of infectious virus , and no virus was detected in the negative controls . results of toxicity studies for the bt , cem - a , and vero indicator cell lines used for viral titration are shown in table 1 . the post paraformaldehyde wash significantly decreased the toxicity from this treatment ( pv - 032 , pv - 033 , and pv - 034 ); all viral studies were performed utilizing this wash step . table 1______________________________________results of toxicity studiespv indicatornumber sample description cell line cytotoxicity______________________________________pv - 003 platelet solution before bt not toxic paraformaldehyde treatmentpv - 004 platelet solution after 1 . 8 % bt toxic paraformaldehyde treatment undilute , 10 . sup .- 1 , 10 . sup .- 2pv - 032 post paraformaldehyde wash bt not toxicpv - 005 platelet solution before vero not toxic paraformaldehyde treatmentpv - 006 platelet solution after 1 . 8 % vero toxic paraformaldehyde treatment undilute , 10 . sup .- 1 , 10 . sup .- 2pv - 033 post paraformaldehyde wash vero not toxicpv - 007 platelet solution before cem - a not toxic paraformaldehyde treatmentpv - 008 platelet solution after 1 . 8 % cem - a toxic paraformaldehyde treatment undilute , 10 . sup .- 1 , 10 . sup .- 2 , 10 . sup .- 3pv - 034 post paraformaldehyde wash cem - a toxic undilute______________________________________ the virus titers for each sample and control in the inactivation studies are shown in table 2 through table 4 . viral titers are expressed as plaque forming units ( pfu ) per ml of syncytium forming units ( sfu ) per ml . titers are expressed as ≦ 5 . 0 × 10 0 pfu ( sfu )/ ml when no virus or fewer than 5 pfu ( sfu ) per ml are detected . for the hiv assay in cem - a cells a 3 - fold dilution was utilized ; titers are expressed as ≦ 1 . 5 × 10 1 pfu ( sfu )/ ml when no virus or fewer than 5 pfu ( sfu ) per ml are detected in the 3 - fold dilution and the undilute samples are cytotoxic . log 10 reduction values were calculated by subtracting the log 10 pfu ( sfu / ml of each treated sample from that of the t initial sample . the paraformaldehyde viral inactivation process reduced the viral titer for bvd by as much as 6 . 93 log 10 ( virus brought to non - detectable levels ), for emc by as much as 8 . 78 log 10 ( virus brought to non - detectable levels ), for emc by as much as 4 . 77 log 10 ( virus brought to non - detectable levels ). a poisson - based statistical analysis was employed for the 2 hour samples to determine changes in virus titers resulting from the plating of additional test article using additional wells . for such instances , the assay sensitivity can be reduced below the current level . for bvd and emc , if no virus is detected in a dilution scheme using additional wells , the titer is reported as 0 . 58 pfu / ml . for hiv , if no virus is detected in a dilution scheme using additional wells , the titer is reported as 0 . 29 sfu / ml . table 2______________________________________bovine viral diarrhea virus titerspv virus titer log . sub . 10 log . sub . 10number sample description ( pfu / ml ) pfu / ml reduction______________________________________pv - 014 stock virus control 6 . 5 × 10 . sup . 7 7 . 81 napv - 009 t . sub . initial 4 . 9 × 10 . sup . 6 6 . 69 napv - 010 t . sub . 30 minutes 3 . 3 × 10 . sup . 3 3 . 52 3 . 17pv - 011 t . sub . 1 hour =≦ 5 . 0 × 10 . sup . 0 ≦ 0 . 70 ≧ 5 . 99pv - 012 t . sub . 1 . 5 hours =≦ 5 . 0 × 10 . sup . 0 ≦ 0 . 70 ≧ 5 . 99pv - 013 t . sub . 2 hours =≦ 5 . 8 × 10 . sup . 1 - 0 . 24 6 . 93______________________________________ =: virus brought to nondetectable levels . pfu : plaque forming units na : not applicable log . sub . 10 reduction values were calculated by subtracting the log . sub . 10 pfu / ml of each treated sample from that of the &# 34 ; t . sub . initial &# 34 ; sample ( pv009 ). table 3______________________________________encephalomyocarditis virus titerspv virus titer log . sub . 10 log . sub . 10number sample description ( pfu / ml ) pfu / ml reduction______________________________________pv - 020 stock virus control 2 . 1 × 10 . sup . 9 9 . 32 napv - 015 t . sub . initial 3 . 5 × 10 . sup . 8 8 . 54 napv - 016 t . sub . 30 minutes 3 . 8 × 10 . sup . 5 5 . 58 2 . 96pv - 017 t . sub . 1 hour =≦ 5 . 0 × 10 . sup . 0 ≦ 0 . 70 ≧ 7 . 84pv - 018 t . sub . 1 . 5 hours =≦ 5 . 0 × 10 . sup . 0 ≦ 0 . 70 ≧ 7 . 84pv - 019 t . sub . 2 hours =≦ 5 . 8 × 10 . sup . 1 - 0 . 24 8 . 78______________________________________ = virus brought to nondetectable levels . pfu = plaque forming units na = not applicable log . sub . 10 reduction values were calculated by subtracting the log . sub . 10 pfu / ml of each treated sample from that of the &# 34 ; t . sub . initial &# 34 ; sample ( pv015 ). table 4______________________________________human immunodeficiency virus titerspv virus titer log . sub . 10 log . sub . 10number sample description ( sfu / ml ) sfu / ml reduction______________________________________pv - 026 stock virus control 5 . 6 × 10 . sup . 5 5 . 75 napv - 021 t . sub . initial 1 . 7 × 10 . sup . 4 4 . 23 napv - 022 t . sub . 30 minutes =≦ 1 . 5 × 10 . sup . 1 ≦ 1 . 18 ≧ 3 . 05pv - 023 t . sub . 1 hour =≦ 1 . 5 × 10 . sup .- 1 ≦ 1 . 18 ≧ 3 . 05pv - 024 t . sub . 1 . 5 hours =≦ 1 . 5 × 10 . sup . 1 ≦ 1 . 18 ≧ 3 . 05pv - 025 t . sub . 2 hours = 2 . 9 × 10 . sup . 1 - 0 . 54 4 . 77______________________________________ =: virus brought to nondetectable levels . sfu : syncytium forming units na : not applicable log . sub . 10 reduction values were calculated by subtracting the log . sub . 10 sfu / ml of each treated sample from that of the &# 34 ; t . sub . initial &# 34 ; sample ( pv021 ). the foregoing examples are illustrative of the present invention , and are not to be construed as limiting thereof . the invention is defined by the following claims , with equivalents of the claims to be included therein .
a method for inactivating microbiological contaminants in a human blood platelet preparation is disclosed . the method comprises , first , providing blood platelets , particularly human blood platelets , suspected of being contaminated with microorganisms . the platelets are then contacted to a fixative for a time sufficient to fix the platelets . after fixing , the platelets are preferably washed and dried to produce fixed - dried platelets . the step of contacting the platelets to a fixative is carried out for a time sufficient to kill some or all the of the contaminating microorganisms .