Does CSL not do SPE testing?

[u/Bigheaded_1]

I thought this was mandatory for all companies to do. My first donation there was eairler the year. They didn't take any blood, I was 40 donations in, which was almost 5 months. And they never took blood. I read something on Google that they don't take vials of blood but do something where they test the plasma.

How exactly does it work?

[u/WorkedtoDeath2024]

They test your donations. The only time they have ever taken a vial from me was about 18 months after I started something came back wonky and they requested a vial from me to test. That came back fine and I resumed donating. Its been 3.5 years now and they only ever took that one vial.

[u/Better-Newspaper3603 → u/WorkedtoDeath2024]

Yes, every 4-6 months they take it from a donation. This just happened to me. You won’t know they did unless you fail.

[u/cash_longfellow]

CSL takes your sample from your plasma donation, they only do a separate draw if you fail the initial SPE test.

[u/Bigheaded_1 → u/[deleted]]

No they didn't, and they haven't since and it's been 5 months since my first donation. This is on Google

Yes, CSL Plasma monitors protein levels every few months, but according to donor discussions on Reddit, they typically use regular Total Protein / Protein Electrophoresis (TP/PE) checks rather than a formal, standalone Serum Protein Electrophoresis (SPE) test like some other centers do. [1]
Testing frequency: Checked every 4 to 6 months.

How it's done: Regular blood samples or protein tracking via their internal lab screening instead of continuous public talk about failing SPE tests. [1, 2]

So I'm wondering how their process works exactly since they don't do the usual SPE test that the other companies do. I'm almost 6 months in and they definitely haven't taken any vials of blood from me

[u/cobo10201 → u/[deleted]]

The SPE is literally just protein testing. Serum Protein Electrophoresis is what SPE stands for. Every bottle of plasma you donate is tested for diseases. They cannot accept a donation without testing every time.

[u/Green-Ad3319]

I have been going there on and off for years and don't recall an official blood draw like the other centers do now that I think of it.

[u/maimou1]

I've never had them tell me to come in for a draw. Biolife, on the other hand, had me come in for a draw, failed it. Then they wanted me to redraw but wouldn't give me results. I went to my PCP and now I have a visit with a hematologist for possible plasma cell disorder. But CSL has never mentioned an issue.

[u/Blankbetty11]

Some companies test protein in the serum (the s part of spe) others test protein in the plasma. Super similar.

[u/CanklesMcSlattern]

Every center does SPE or PE testing. The S stands for serum, those are the centers that always take a whole blood sample. PE centers draw plasma off the donation and only have to draw whole blood directly for re-testing abnormal or untestable results. If your results are in normal range, they just pass the results in your profile and you never hear about it. If a result is out of range, or the sample is untestable, the center will typically notify you.