International

News items constitute an arbitrary selection of events. Links to some news items may no longer be active. News items are for the current and prior year only. Canadian news is covered in What's New and Monthly newsletters

Index: General | Specific countries (change over time)

GENERAL

TM blog: Revolution (More musings on using artificial intelligence in transfusion medicine)
Sweden: Doctoral (PhD) student position in transfusion epidemiology at Karolinska Institutet (Last application date: 29 Nov. 2020)
China demands recovering COVID-19 patients wait six months before donating blood (28 Nov. 2020)
German doctor in doping trial claims he wanted to protect athletes (27 Nov. 2020)
When there is good vaccine news - efficacy is only the beginning of the story (25 Nov. 2020) | Oped by University of Sydney professor
Nature journals reveal terms of landmark open-access option (24 Nov. 2020)
Assay for Sickle Cell Anemia is repurposed to diagnose COVID-19 (18 Nov. 2020)
Adverse event rates higher in the early post-RBC transfusion period for those with chronic kidney disease (18 Nov. 2020)
- Provenzano R, Pollock CA, Pecoits-Filho R, et al. Adverse event rates are higher post-transfusion vs. overall follow-up and independent of background anemia treatment in patients with CKD. Presented at Kidney Week 2020 Reimagined, October 19-25, 2020. Poster TH-OR09.
Minks can transmit SARS-CoV-2 to humans, study shows (13 Nov. 2020)
- Oude Munnink BB, Sikkema RS, Nieuwenhuijse DF,et al. Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 on mink farms between humans and mink and back to humans. Science. 2020 Nov 10:eabe5901. Epub ahead of print. (Free full text) | PubMed abstract
Doctors consider convalescent T cell therapy for COVID-19 (6 Nov. 2020)
- Ferreras C, Pascual-Miguel B, Mestre-Durán C, et a SARS-CoV-2 specific memory T lymphocytes from COVID-19 convalescent donors: identification, biobanking and large-scale production for Adoptive Cell Therapy. Unreviewed preprint, bioRxiv. (Free full text)
Transfusion during hospitalization does not cause thrombosis: study (13 Nov. 2020)
- Kreuziger LB, Edgren G, Hauser RG, et al. Red blood cell transfusion does not increase risk of venous or arterial thrombosis during hospitalization. Am J Hematol. 2020. Epub 29 Oct. 2020
Film review: The Racer, joint production from Ireland, Luxembourg, Belgium about professional cycling and its doping past (7 Nov. 2020) | Movie trailer(1:46 min.)
SARS-CoV-2 survives for 9 hours on human skin (6 Nov. 2020) | Note sample size in study below.
- Hirose R, Ikegaya H, Naito Y, et al. Survival of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virus on the human skin: Importance of hand hygiene in COVID-19. Clin Infect Dis. 2020 Oct 3:ciaa1517. Epub ahead of print.
Clinical laboratories need creative staffing strategies to keep and attract hard-to-find medical technologists, as demand for COVID-19 testing increases (2 Nov. 2020)
New genome sequences reveal undescribed African migration (29 Oct. 2020) | Related:
- Choudhury A, Aron S, Botigué LR, Sengupta D, et al. High-depth African genomes inform human migration and health. Nature. 2020 Oct;586(7831):741-8. Epub 2020 Oct 28. | PubMed abstract
Alert cards for Cold Agglutinin Disease (22 Oct. 2020)
World Cord Blood Day (17 Nov. 2020)
New evidence to guide the practice of blood transfusions in children with severe malaria (News release 19 Oct. 2020)
- Ackerman H, Ayestaran A, Olola CHO, et al. The effect of blood transfusion on outcomes among African children admitted to hospital with Plasmodium falciparum malaria: a prospective, multicentre observational study. Lancet Haematol. 2020 Nov;7(11):e789-e797.
Europe’s top court rules for Jehovah’s witness child in medical-bias case vs Latvia's Ministry of Health (29 Oct. 2020)
Impact of preoperative blood transfusion on postoperative outcomes in newborns (28 Oct. 2020)
- Dukleska K, Vinocur CD, Brenn BR, et al. Preoperative blood transfusions and morbidity in neonates undergoing surgery. Pediatrics. 2020 Oct 21:e20193718. Epub ahead of print.
'No one eureka moment': University of Alberta virologist describes decade of work that led to a Nobel Prize (25 Oct. 2020)
Limited efficacy of plasma from cured patients, study finds (24 Oct. 2020)
- Pathak EB. Convalescent plasma is ineffective for covid-19. (editorial) BMJ. 2020 Oct 22;371:m4072. (Free full text)
Solutions to hemolysis in point-of-care testing (23 Oct. 2020)
Critically ill infants given blood transfusions before surgery have poorer outcomes (21 Oct. 2020)
Effective lab leadership (10 Feb. 2020)
My Rh sensitized pregnancy was a total nightmare (19 Oct. 2020)
The virus which killed millions and the Nobel prize 2020 (17 Oct. 2020)
Johnson & Johnson pauses COVID-19 vaccine trials (13 Oct. 2020)
COVID-19 diagnostics: How do saliva tests compare to swabs? (9 Oct. 2020)
- Guyane C, Nacher M, Demar M. Prospective comparison of saliva and nasopharyngeal swab sampling for mass screening for COVID-19. Unreviewed preprint medRxiv 2020.09.23.20150961. Epub 2020 Sep 24. (Free full text)
Harvey Alter’s Nobel Prize honors a half-century quest (9 Oct. 2020)
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2020 awarded jointly to Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice "for the discovery of Hepatitis C virus." The announcement in Stockholm (video)
A challenge trial for COVID-19 would not be the first of its kind (8 Oct. 2020)
The Nobel Prize is a reminder of hepatitis C’s dark history (6 Oct. 2020)
Selected presentations (blogs) from AABB 2020 (Oct.4-6, 2020)
- Major changes in blood donor screening
- Professional social media is social
- Rooting out the cause of errors
- Yes, we really can reduce human error in transfusion medicine
- Newborn immunohematology testing practices vary significantly throughout the United States and Canada
- AABB Congratulates Harvey J. Alter, MD, Recipient of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- Making Twitter a part of your professional toolbox
- Using the power of “Digital Health” to achieve hemovigilance
- Here’s what happened when IBR updated its DHQ to include transgender, non-binary donors | Interesting demographics
Why did the cruise leave without me? I only needed a blood transfusion! (3 Oct. 2020) | Unsure when this happened. Written by NPO offering free advice and advocacy for consumers.
The Surgisphere scandal: what went wrong? (1 Oct. 2020) | Also see UK below
German doctor accused of masterminding Operation 'Aderlass' admits to 'hobby' doping (29 Sept. 2020)
Online therapy is as effective as going in person, study finds (28 Sept. 2020)
- Jones C, Miguel-Cruz A, Smith-MacDonald L, et al. Virtual trauma-focused Therapy for military members, veterans, and public safety personnel with posttraumatic stress injury: systematic scoping review. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2020 Sep 21;8(9):e22079. (Open access)
To ethically tackle COVID-19, Big Pharma needs an overhaul (25 Sept. 2020) | Related:
- Special Report: Big Pharma wages stealth war on drug price watchdog (Reuters, 11 Sept. 2020)
Doping techniques (22 Sept. 2020)
The Lancet alters editorial practices after Surgisphere COVID-19 scandal (22 Sept. 2020) | Related:
- The Editors of The Lancet Group. Learning from a retraction. The Lancet 2020. Epub 2020 Sep 17. (Free full text)
- Who’s to blame? These three scientists are at the heart of the Surgisphere COVID-19 scandal: Indonesian Red Cross (8 June 2020)
Canada: Sanofi and GSK sign agreements with Canada to supply up to 72 million doses of adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccine (Press release, 22 Sept. 2020)
Nurse, a co-defendant in the trial of a German sports doctor, weeps as she tells German court of her blood doping role (19 Sept. 2020)
Sickle cell disease patients lack education on transfusions (17 Sept. 2020)
- Lawrence RH, Singleton A, Branscomb J. Blood transfusion: knowledge, perspectives, and experience of individuals with sickle cell disease. J Patient Exp 2020. Epub 10 Sept. 2020. (Free full text)
The immune hallmarks of severe COVID-19 (16 Sept. 2020)
German doctor accused of masterminding international blood doping network (Operation Aderlass) goes on trial (16 Sept. 2020)
Indian study shows no survival benefit of plasma in COVID-19 (15 Sept. 2020)
USA: AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine trial in U.S. on hold (15 Sept. 2020)
WHO supplies Iran with COVID-19 antibody ELISA tests (14 Sept. 2020)
Fast and efficient method to produce red blood cells developed (14 Sept. 2020)
- Zeming KK, Sato Y, Yin L, et al. Microfluidic label-free bioprocessing of human reticulocytes from erythroid culture. Lab Chip. 2020;10.1039/c9lc01128e. Epub 2020 Aug 14. (Free full text)
UK: Imperial College London researchers to test inhaled coronavirus vaccines (14 Sept. 2020)
UK: Oxford University to resume COVID-19 vaccine trial after pause (12 Sept. 2020) | Related:
- AstraZeneca restarts COVID-19 vaccine trial (12 Sept. 2020)
Look back at lessons from 9/11 (USA):
- September 11 blood donations "wasted" (21 Feb. 2002)
- Schmidt PJ. Blood and disaster--supply and demand. N Engl J Med. 2002;346(8):617-20.
- Gordon NT, Schreiber MA. Frozen blood and lessons learned from 9/11. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2014;77(3):479-85.
Revisiting the use and management of blood in Europe, in times of crisis and beyond (9 Sept. 2020)
Industry news (AstraZeneca): Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine trial paused after participant falls ill (9 Sept. 2020)
Drop in plasma donations hits immunoglobulin supply (2 Sept. 2020)
Australia researchers: Pre-screening blood key to reducing surgery costs and improving patient outcomes (28 Aug. 2020)
- Trentino KM, Mace HS, Symons K, et al. Screening and treating pre-operative anaemia and suboptimal iron stores in elective colorectal surgery: a cost effectiveness analysis. Anaesthesia. 2020;10.1111/anae.15240. Epub 2020 Aug 27.
New blood, new hope: Transfusions protect the brain from stroke damage (25 Aug. 2020)
WHO urges all countries to join COVAX to ensure everyone has access to safe, effective COVID-19 vaccine (19 Aug. 2020)
The push to deploy at-home antigen tests for COVID-19 (17 Aug. 2020)
In Memoriam: Susan Moore Steane, MS, MT(ASCP) SBB
Commentary shares insights about irradiated blood to prevent TA-GVHD. (9 Aug. 2020)
- Ní Loingsigh S, Flegel WA, Hendrickson JE, Tormey CA. Preventing transfusion-associated graft-versus-host disease with blood component irradiation: indispensable guidance for a deadly disorder. Br J Haematol. 2020;10.1111/bjh.17016. Epub 2010 Aug 1.
The search for immune responses that stop COVID-19 (24 July 2020)
Study estimates the past and present burden of viral hepatitis through blood transfusions (23 July 2020)
- Dahl V, Ammar M, Wikman A, et al. Transmission of viral hepatitis through blood transfusion in Sweden, 1968 to 2012. Euro Surveill. 2020;25(29): pii=1900537.
Disposable blood warmer helps transfusions (21 July 2020)
- Roxby D, Sobieraj-Teague M, von Wielligh J, et al. Warming blood prior to transfusion using latent heat. Emerg Med Australas. 2020;10.1111/1742-6723.13471. Epub 2020 Feb 11.
Long standing generation gap in blood donation:
- USA: Blood banks face a generation gap in giving (17 July 2020)
- USA: Shortage at KC blood bank reveals generation gap in donating blood (26 Nov. 2019)
- USA: New survey shows millennials can help avoid blood shortage (13 June 2019)
- UK: Drop in number of young blood donors (14 June 2011)
Damaged human lungs revived for transplant by connecting them to a pig (13 July 2020)
- Hozain AE, O'Neill JD, Pinezich MR, et al. Xenogeneic cross-circulation for extracorporeal recovery of injured human lungs. Nat Med. 2020;26(7):1102-13. Epub 2020 Jul 13. | PubMed abstract
Blood transplants from active mice give brain boost to others (12 July 2020)
- Horowitz AM, Fan X, Bieri G, et al. Blood factors transfer beneficial effects of exercise on neurogenesis and cognition to the aged brain. Science. 2020;369(6500):167-73.
WHO: Transmission of SARS-CoV-2: implications for infection prevention precautions (Scientific Brief, 9 July 2020)
From the archives: Quality Assurance in Blood Banking and Its Clinical Impact (Proceedings of Seventh Annual Symposium on Blood Transfusion, Groningen, 1982)
- Abstracts and previews available for all entries. Interesting historical tidbits and not just technical issues.Ex:
- Job Descriptions, Competency Testing and Selection of Personnel
- Training Programs for Blood Bank Personnel
- Continuous Education in Blood Banking and Blood Transfusion Practice
Simple bedside test detects bleeding risk in patients after surgery or major injury (26 June 2020)
- Tripathi MM, Tshikudi DM, Hajjarian Z, Hack DC, Van Cott EM, Nadkarni SK. Comprehensive blood coagulation profiling in patients using iCoagLab: comparison against thromboelastography. Thromb Haemost. 2020;10.1055/s-0040-1712956. Epub 2020 Jun 22.
IFPBM: "A world-first study confirms less is safe, even better, when it comes to transfusion - reassuring evidence amid COVID-19 blood shortages." (24 June 2020, press release)
- Trentino, K.M., Farmer, S.L., Leahy, M.F. et al. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses comparing mortality in restrictive and liberal haemoglobin thresholds for red cell transfusion: an overview of systematic reviews. BMC Med 18, 154 (2020).(Free full text)
Ethiopian marathoner given 12-year doping ban (22 June 2020)
Blood doping: How exactly did Lance Armstrong cheat? (14 June 2020) | Includes BBC video (5:34 mins)
Luspatercept-aamt reduces RBC transfusion burden in patients with rare blood disorder (13 June 2020)
- Cappellini MD, Viprakasit V, Taher AT, et al. A phase 3 trial of Luspatercept in patients with transfusion-dependent ß-thalassemia. N Engl J Med. 2020;382(13):1219-31.
Pro-Paid Plasma in the media: Bloody well pay them: the case for voluntary remunerated plasma collections (14 June 2020) | Related:
- It's time to think seriously about paying blood donors (15 June 2020)
Three people with inherited diseases successfully treated with CRISPR (12 June 2020)
Argentine Pan Am Games swimmer and medalist Guillermo Bertola receives 4-year ban for blood doping (9 June 2020) Related:
- Argentine swimmer cites mom’s blood for doping ban (19 June 2020)
USA: COVID-19 convalescent plasma therapy is safe for patients with severe COVID-19, with 76% of patients improving (2 June 2020) | Note on study size: n=25.
- Salazar E, Perez KK, Ashraf M, et al. Treatment of COVID-19 patients with convalescent plasma. Am J Pathol. 2020;S0002-9440(20)30257-1. Epub 2020 May 27. (Free full text)
Pharma leaders shoot down WHO voluntary pool for patent rights on Covid-19 products (28 May 2020)
Retrospective: The 60 Minutes report that helped reveal Lance Armstrong's blood doping (25 May 2020)
A promising coronavirus treatment has a dark history (25 May 2020)
- Even with the incentive of cash...most gainfully employed people are not willing to put up with the time and discomfort. Because of that, most collection takes place among people who need money, in low-income neighborhoods — a morally ambiguous situation at best. So while plasma-related therapies have saved countless lives, they’ve always been shadowed by a sense of exploitation and scandal — and human tragedy.
Reforming blood donation in the age of COVID-19 (21 May 2020)
BC PCBO's central transfusion registry: 20 years of data-driven initiatives (ISBT's Transfusion Today, Dec. 2019)
Graphic of WHO's guidelines for PPE use among frontline medical staff (Reuters, 7 May 2020)
New open access journal (May 2020): The Lancet Microbe
Testing an old therapy against a new disease: convalescent plasma for COVID-19 (JAMA, 30 Apr. 2020)
The race for coronavirus vaccines: a graphical guide (28 Apr. 2020)
Wiley offers complimentary access to COVID-19 research Includes journal articles from AABB, ASFA, BBTS, BSH, ISLH ISBT, ISTH
BC PCBO's central transfusion registry: 20 years of data-driven initiatives (ISBT's Transfusion Today, Dec. 2019)
World Hemophilia Day (17 Apr. 2020)
Gotlieb A. At every stage of your career, mentorships are a valuable resource (The Pathologist, 16 July 2019) | Older but of general interest
Blood clots in severe Covid-19 patients leave clinicians with clues about the illness — but no proven treatments (16 Apr. 2020)
- Wang J, Hajizadeh N, Moore EE, McIntyre RC, Moore PK, Veress LA, et al. Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) treatment for COVID-19 associated acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS): a case series. J Thromb Haemost. 2020 Apr 8. [Epub ahead of print] (Free full text) | PubMed abstract
Canada (CBS): Hemophilia’s global impact is greater than previously thought (17 Apr. 2020)
PIVO enables health practitioners to obtain blood samples for med lab tests without a needle stick (6 Apr. 2020) | Velano Vascular Technologies
Reducing mortality of Covid-19 with antibody-rich plasma? Europe may have the answer if it comes together (15 Apr. 2020)
USA: Johns Hopkins researchers publish a how-to guidebook on COVID-19 plasma transfusions (14 Apr. 2020)
- Bloch EM, et al. Deployment of convalescent plasma for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. J Clin Invest. 2020 Apr 7. pii: 138745. [Epub ahead of print]
PAHO warns of potential blood shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic (10 Apr. 2020)
COVID-19 (Brit Med J open access articles)
- Abassi K. The scandals of covid-19 (9 Apr. 2020)
- Greenhalgh T, Schmid MB, Czypionka T, Bassler D, Gruer L. Face masks for the public during the covid-19 crisis.BMJ. 2020 Apr 9;369:m1435.
- Javid B, Weekes MP, Matheson NJ. Covid-19: should the public wear face masks? (Editorial) BMJ. 2020 Apr 9;369:m1442.
- Kickbusch I, Leung GM, Bhutta ZA, Matsoso MP, Ihekweazu C, Abbasi K. Covid-19: how a virus is turning the world upside down. BMJ. 2020 Apr 3;369:m1336.
- Stafford N. Covid-19: Why Germany's case fatality rate seems so low. BMJ. 2020 Apr 7;369:m1395.
- Wise J. Covid-19: Doctors and nurses donate samples to study disease. BMJ. 2020 Apr 9;369:m1446.
USA: AABB launches new COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Website
Articles of general interest to health professionals (All open access)
- Allen TC. Pathologists will prevail. (editorial) Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2020 Apr;144(4):416-9. Epub 2020 Jan 23.
- Black CC, Motta A. An examination of advocacy education in residency training. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2020 Apr;144(4):497-499. Epub 2019 Jul 17.
- Gross DJ, Black-Schaffer WS, Hoffman RD, Karcher DS, Estrada EL, Robboy SJ, Cohen MB. The state of the job market for pathologists: evidence from the College of American Pathologists Practice Leader Survey. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2020 Apr;144(4):420-6. Epub 2020 Jan 23.
- Montironi R, Cimadamore A, Scarpelli M. From undergraduate medical school student to visible pathologist. (Letter to the editor). Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2020 Apr;144(4):413-4.
China: Antiviral drug, plasma transfusions show promise in treating COVID-19| Related:
- Shanghai doctors trying plasma infusions to treat patients with coronavirus (17 Feb. 2020)
UK (Brit Med J): Special edition on Racism in Medicine
Understanding Transfusion for Beta-Thalassemia (6:04 min video, HCPLive Peer Exchange)
WHO and FIND formalize strategic collaboration to drive universal access to essential diagnostics (10 Feb. 2020)
New device identifies high-quality blood donors (UBC, 4 Feb. 2020)
- Islamzada E, Matthews K, Guo Q, Santoso AT, Duffy SP, Scott MD, Ma H. Deformability based sorting of stored red blood cells reveals donor-dependent aging curves. Lab Chip. 2020 Jan 21;20(2):226-235. Epub 2019 Dec 4.
Could ‘young’ blood stop us getting old? (2 Feb. 2020)
Digital therapeutics (DTx), a growing trend in life sciences technology (Dark Daily, 27 Jan. 2020)
USA: LabCorp security lapse exposed thousands of medical documents with sensitive health data (28 Jan. 2020)
Human interest: Welshman flown around the world by Canadian cancer patient after he donated bone marrow (30 Jan. 2020)
Luspatercept reduces need for transfusions in some patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (8 Jan. 2020)
- Fenaux P, et al. Luspatercept in Patients with Lower-Risk Myelodysplastic Syndromes. N Engl J Med. 2020 Jan 9;382(2):140-51.
- Note: Scroll to finding disclosures in NEJM 'free preview.'
An overview of red blood cell lysis (30 Jan. 2020)
AABB: Interim Standards to 31st ed. of Standards for Blood Banks and Transfusion Services (13 Dec. 2019, Association Bulletin #19-03)
Global platelet-rich plasma market valued at $195.2m USD in 2017 projected to expand at a CAGR of 12.0% from 2018 to 2026| CAGR: Compound annual growth rate (3 Dec. 2019)
Big Pharma money does influence what doctors prescribe, report finds (20 Dec. 2019)
Brit Med J launches global campaign to separate medicine from Big Pharma (4 Dec. 2019)
Canadian tissue banks ready to help victims of NZ volcanic eruption (13 Dec 2019)
Scientists visualize competition between healthy, dysfunctional platelets (12 Dec. 2019)
- Lee RH, Piatt R, Dhenge A, Lozano ML, Palma-Barqueros V, Rivera J, Bergmeier W. Impaired hemostatic activity of healthy transfused platelets in inherited and acquired platelet disorders: Mechanisms and implications. Sci Transl Med. 2019 Dec 11;11(522). pii: eaay0203.
Fresh red blood cell transfusions do not help critically ill children more than older cells (10 Dec. 2019)
- Spinella PC, Tucci M, Fergusson DA, Lacroix J, Hébert PC, Leteurtre S, et al.; ABC-PICU Investigators, the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group, the Pediatric Acute Lung Injury and Sepsis Investigators Network, the BloodNet Pediatric Critical Care Blood Research Network, and the Groupe Francophone de Réanimation et Urgences P. Effect of fresh vs standard-issue red blood cell transfusions on multiple organ dysfunction syndrome in critically ill pediatric patients: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2019 Dec 10; 322(22):2179-90.
The burden of platelet transfusions in patients with chronic liver disease (26 Nov. 2019)
- Brown Jr RS, Bentley R, Cai B, Flamm SL, Kanakamedala H, Lai J, et al. The clinical and economic burden of patients with chronic liver disease and thrombocytopaenia receiving platelet transfusions during planned invasive procedures. GastroHep 2019;1(5): 236-48. (Open access)
What's in the average transfusion? Anti-anxiety drugs, caffeine, cough medicines. (26 Nov. 2019)
- Chen L, van Breemen RB. Validation of a sensitive UHPLC-MS/MS method for cytochrome P450 probe substrates caffeine, tolbutamide, dextromethorphan, and alprazolam in human serum reveals drug contamination of serum used for research. J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2019 Nov 10:112983. [Epub ahead of print]
Early plasma transfusion may benefit women with persistent postpartum hemmorrhage ( 16 Nov. 2019)
- Henriquez DDCA, Caram-Deelder C, le Cessie S, Zwart JJ, van Roosmalen JJM, Eikenboom JCJ, et al; TeMpOH-1 Research Group. Association of timing of plasma transfusion with adverse maternal outcomes in women with persistent postpartum hemorrhage.JAMA Netw Open. 2019 Nov 1;2(11):e1915628. Epub 15 Nov. 2019. (Open access)
First new HIV strain in 19 years identified (6 Nov. 2019) | Related:
- Scientists discover new subtype of HIV (6 Nov. 2019)
- Yamaguchi J, McArthur C, Vallari A, Sthreshley L, Cloherty GA, Berg MG, Rodgers MA. Complete genome sequence of CG-0018a-01 establishes HIV-1 subtype L. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2019 Nov 6. [Epub ahead of print]
Study finds flow cytometry may allow more accurate detection of RBC autoantibody formation in thalassemia patients compared with DAT (5 Nov. 2019)
- Thedsawad A, Taka O, Wanachiwanawin W. Prevalence and clinical significances of red cell alloimmunization and red cell bound immunoglobulin G in polytransfused patients with thalassemias. Hematology. 2019 Dec;24(1):208-14. (Free full text)
Canada: Blood system safer because of landmark study at UHN (21 Oct. 2019)
- Callum J, Farkouh ME, Scales DC, Heddle NM, Crowther M, Rao V, et al; FIBRES Research Group. Effect of fibrinogen concentrate vs cryoprecipitate on blood component transfusion after cardiac surgery: The FIBRES Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2019 Oct 21:1-11. [Epub ahead of print]
AABB meeting highlights (blog)
From the archives: Ruiz MT, Verbrugge LM. A two way view of gender bias in medicine. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1997 Apr;51(2):106-9. (Free full text)
Austrian skier Max Hauke receives five-month jail sentence for 'serious sports fraud' (30 Oct. 2019) | He'd already received four-year ban by Austrian Anti-Doping Agency for being caught during a blood transfusion in 'Aderlass' scandal.
Anemia and risk of transfusion after vaginal delivery (29 Oct. 2019)
- Echevarria G, Dgheim C, Junior CC, Grant GJ. Anemia at admission for labor and delivery and the risk of transfusion after vaginal delivery. (Abstract A3046)
UK: The Naked Scientists Podcast: Blood Under The Microscope
- The history of blood (22 Oct. 2019) | Interview with Elise Burton, University of Cambridge - audiotape and transcript
- Making blood in the lab (22 Oct. 2019) | Interview with, Cedric Ghevaert, University of Cambridge
- The science of giving blood (22 Oct. 2019) | Interview with, Steven Thomas, NHS Blood and Transplant
- Making new blood vessels (22 Oct. 2019) Interview with Jo Mountford, Scottish National Transfusion Service - audiotape and transcript
  - McCracken IR, Taylor RS, Kok FO, de la Cuesta F, Dobie R, Henderson BEP, Mountford JC, et al. Transcriptional dynamics of pluripotent stem cell-derived endothelial cell differentiation revealed by single-cell RNA sequencing. Eur Heart J. 2019 Jun 26. pii: ehz351. [Epub ahead of print]
Hospitals around the world have a dire shortage of blood (22 Oct. 2019)
- Roberts N, James S, Delaney M, Fitzmaurice C. The global need and availability of blood products: a modelling study. Lancet Haematol. 2019 Oct 17. pii: S2352-3026(19)30200-5. [Epub ahead of print]
Will blood-bearing delivery drones transform disaster relief and battlefield medicine? (22 Oct. 2019)
Women with anemia twice as likely to need transfusion after cesarean delivery (21 Oct. 2019)
Extreme preemies are at risk of severe blood loss from lab testing (9 Oct. 2019)
- Counsilman CE, Heeger LE, Tan R, Bekker V, Zwaginga JJ, Te Pas AB, Lopriore E. Iatrogenic blood loss in extreme preterm infants due to frequent laboratory tests and procedures. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2019 Oct 6:1-6. [Epub ahead of print] (Open access)
In genetic disease, who has the right to know—or not know—what? (The Economist, 26 Sept. 2019)
Yellow fever and malaria In USA? With climate crisis, it's possible (30 Sept. 2019) | Climate change affects spread of infectious diseases
USA: Planning for the worst: blood transfusion during deep space exploration (21 Sept. 2019)
- Nowak ES, Reyes DP, Bryant BJ, Cap AP, Kerstman EL, Antonsen EL. Blood transfusion for deep space exploration. Transfusion. 2019 Sep 6. [Epub ahead of print]
Australia's Monash University with industry partners develop world's first laser incubator for blood grouping and potentially pretransfusion testing (20 Sept. 2019)
- Manderson CA, McLiesh H, Curvello R, Tabor RF, Manolios J, Garnier G. Photothermal incubation of red blood cells by laser for rapid pre-transfusion blood group typing. Sci Rep. 2019 Aug 2;9(1):11221. (Open access)
Michael Schumacher released from Paris hospital after experimental stem cell treatment (18 Sept. 2019)
- Michael Schumacher health warning: ‘Miracle’ stem-cell treatment attacked by neurologist (12 Sept. 2019) Related:
- U.S. FDA warns about stem cell therapies (3 Sept. 2019)
Austrian cyclist Preidler charged with fraud in Operation Aderlass blood doping inquiry (18 Sept. 2019)
Simonsson P, Tjernberg I. Patient-initiated diagnostics - a challenge for laboratory medicine. [*Article in Swedish - Use Chrome browser and choose 'Translate'] Lakartidningen. 2019 Apr 2;116. pii: FIFW. | English abstract
Using statistics to prevent the loss of blood donors (10 Sept. 2019) | Related:
- Marieke Vinkenoog and BloodStart
- Challenges and limitations in clustering blood donor hemoglobin trajectories. In: 4th Workshop on Advanced Analytics and Learning on Temporal Data at ECML PKDD (European Conference on Machine Learning and Principles and Practice of Knowledge Discovery in Databases), 2019.
Study: HPV could spread via blood transfusions (12 Sept. 2019)
- Cladel NM, Jiang P, Li JJ, Peng X, Cooper TK, Majerciak V, et al. Papillomavirus can be transmitted through the blood and produce infections in blood recipients: Evidence from two animal models. Emerg Microbes Infect. 2019;8(1):1108-21. (Free full text)
Review of 'The King of Hell's Palace' (13 Sept. 2019) | Play about China's 1990s blood scandal. Background:
- Chinese AIDS scandal (11 June 2001)
Hemophilia three times more prevalent worldwide than thought, study finds (11 Sept. 2019)
- Iorio A, Stonebraker JS, Chambost H, Makris M, Coffin D, Herr C, et al. Establishing the prevalence and prevalence at birth of hemophilia in males: a meta-analytic approach using national registries. Ann Intern Med. 2019 Sep 10. [Epub ahead of print]
Canada: Young transplant recipient gets 3-D models of his damaged heart (11 Sept. 2019)
- Alberta boy gets ‘Star Wars’ model of his heart (3:11 min. video: it's worth the wait) (11 Sept. 2019)
Gender equality: 'No room at the top for women scientists' (6 Sept. 2019)
- Beeler WH, Smith-Doody KA, Ha R, Aiyar RS, Schwarzbach E, Solomon SL, Jagsi R. Institutional report cards for gender equality: lessons learned from benchmarking efforts for women in STEM. Cell Stem Cell. 2019 Sep 5;25(3):306-310. (Free full text)
Australian study raises concerns over elderly blood management (3 Sept. 2019)
- Simon GI, Craswell A, Thom O, Chew MS, Anstey CM, Fung YL. Impacts of aging on anemia tolerance, transfusion thresholds, and patient blood management. Transfus Med Rev. 2019 Jul;33(3):154-61. Epub 2019 Apr 5.
Resuscitation from hemorrhagic shock via transfusion of anaerobically stored RBCs improves outcomes in rats (4 Sept. 2019)
- Williams AT, Jani VP, Nemkov T, Lucas A, Yoshida T, Dunham A, et al. Transfusion of anaerobically or conventionally stored blood after hemorrhagic shock. Shock. 2019 Aug 30. [Epub ahead of print]
Zupanic M, Rebacz P, Ehlers JP. Media use among students from different health curricula: survey study. JMIR Med Educ. 2019 Aug 19; 5(2):e12809. (Free full text)
Artificial intelligence in medicine: applications, implications, and limitations (19 June 2019) Related:
- Chen JH, Asch SM.Machine learning and prediction in medicine — beyond the peak of inflated expectations. N Engl J Med. 2017 Jun 29; 376(26): 2507–9.
Giving trauma patients blood pressure stabilizing hormone cuts transfusions by half (28 Aug. 2019)
- Sims CA, Holena D, Kim P, Pascual J, Smith B, Martin N, et al. Effect of low-dose supplementation of arginine vasopressin on need for blood product transfusions in patients with trauma and hemorrhagic shock: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Surg. 2019 Aug 28. [Epub ahead of print]
Big Pharma (Canada):
- Big pharma paid $151M to doctors, hospitals in 2017-18, but we don’t know who got paid or why (19 Aug. 2019, Part 4 of 4)
- Big pharma pours millions into medical schools — here’s how it can impact education (12 Aug. 2019, Part 3 of 4)
Blood doping
- 2019 has seen a rise in number of doping cases (30 Aug. 2019)
- Russian race walker Medvedeva given 8-year doping ban (30 Aug. 2019)
- Russian race walker Bakulin banned for 8 years (21 Aug. 2019)
- Russian state sports facility says contract with banned race walking coach Chegin voided after Reuters report (29 Aug. 2019)
- Doping among leading Kenyan athletes (28 Aug. 2019) | 2:34 min video
- Italian cyclist Petacchi handed 2-year ban for blood doping (24 Aug. 2019)
AABB announces transfusion medicine and cellular therapy leaders who will receive its 2019 Memorial Awards (13 Aug. 2019)
10 body parts you didn't know you could sell (16 Aug. 2019)
Reducing transfusion burden and addressing unmet needs in beta thalassemia (8 Aug. 2019)
- Shah FT, Sayani F, Trompeter S, Drasar E, Piga A. Challenges of blood transfusions in ß-thalassemia. Blood Rev. 2019 Jul 6:100588. [Epub ahead of print]
Millionaires drop tens of 1000s on 'young blood' transfusions and cryonic preservation. 5 ways the wealthy invest in trying to live forever (2 Aug. 2019)
Larger volumes of blood transfusions to children with severe anaemia in sub-Saharan Africa could halve the number of deaths (2 Aug. 2019)
- Maitland K,et al., for the TRACT Group Immediate transfusion in African children with uncomplicated severe anemia. N Engl J Med 2019;381:407-19. (EPub 1 Aug. 2019)
Prehospital TXA for Trauma (1 Aug. 2019)
- El-Menyar A, Sathian B, Wahlen BM, Abdelrahman H, Peralta R, Al-Thani H, Rizoli S. Prehospital administration of tranexamic acid in trauma patients: A 1:1 matched comparative study from a level 1 trauma center. Am J Emerg Med. 2019 Apr 30. pii: S0735-6757(19)30293-1. [Epub ahead of print]
Blood transfusion reactions twice as common in postpartum women (31 July 2019)
- Thurn L, Wikman A, Westgren M, Lindqvist PG. Incidence and risk factors of transfusion reactions in postpartum blood transfusions. Blood Advances 2019;3:2298-2306. (Free full text)
World Hepatitis Day (28 July 2019)
- WHO urges countries to invest in eliminating hepatitis (26 July 2019)
Harrold IM, Bean SM, Williams NC. Emerging from the basement: the visible pathologist. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2019 Aug;143(8):917-8. (Free full text)
Two Austrian cross-country skiers given four-year bans in latest twist of Aderlass affair (23 July 2019) | Operation Aderlass (Operation bloodletting) is the name of an investigation into alleged doping practices by German physician Mark Schmidt.
Six things Big Pharma doesn't want you to know (Médecins Sans Frontières, 10 July 2019)
Can red cell exchange treat advanced sickle cell disease? (10 July 2019)
3D printed technology streamlines ELISA, lowers cost (25 June 2019)
World Blood Donor Day (14 June) | 2019 theme: Safe blood for all | 38 sec. WHO video
Industry news: What Bluebird Bio gets wrong in pricing for its $1.8 Million drug to treat ß thalasemmia (19 June 2019) | Bluebird Bio website
USA: CDC investigates after 4 patients got sepsis from contaminated platelet transfusions (13 June 2019)
Red blood cell donor pregnancy history not tied to mortality after transfusion (11 June 2019)
Type A blood converted to universal donor blood with help from bacterial enzymes (10 June 2019) | Related:
- Rahfeld P, et al. An enzymatic pathway in the human gut microbiome that converts A to universal O type blood. Nat Microbiol 2019. EPub 10 June 2019.
D-Day 75 years on - How Bristol was the blood donation epicentre for the UK war effort (6 June 2019)
Yeah, young blood transfusions do seem to fight aging (3 June 2019)
- Two brain-rejuvenating proteins have been identified in young blood (3 June 2019)
- Gan KJ, Südhof TC. Specific factors in blood from young but not old mice directly promote synapse formation and NMDA-receptor recruitment. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Jun 3. pii: 201902672. [Epub ahead of print]
Medical mistrust is a significant barrier to blood donation among minorities, research finds (21 May 2019)
- Spratling R, Lawrence RH. Facilitators and barriers to minority blood donations: a systematic review. Nurs Res. 2019 May/Jun;68(3):218-26.
Canada: Blood donation waiting period for men who have sex with men reduced to three months (8 May 2019)
ASCO/ASH Guideline update for cancer-associated anemia management with erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (7 May 2019)
- Bohlius J, Bohlke K, Castelli R, Djulbegovic B, Lustberg MB, Martino M, et al. Management of cancer-associated anemia with erythropoiesis-stimulating agents: ASCO/ASH clinical practice guideline update. Blood Adv. 2019 Apr 23;3(8):1197-1210. (Free full text)
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Ebola outbreak approaches 1400 cases (26 Apr. 2019)
Having a particular ABO blood type helps protect you from severe malaria (24 Apr. 2019)
- Degarege A, Gebrezgi MT, Ibanez G, Wahlgren M, Madhivanan P. Effect of the ABO blood group on susceptibility to severe malaria: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Blood Rev. 2019 Jan;33:53-62. Epub 2018 Jul 17. (Free full text)
Pew Charitable Trusts: 'Poor' EHR usability can provoke drug, treatment errors for pediatric patients (24 Apr. 2019)
- Ratwani RM, Savage E, Will A, Fong A, Karavite D, Muthu N, et al. Identifying electronic health record usability and safety challenges in pediatric settings. Health Aff (Millwood). 2018 Nov; 37(11):1752-9.
Historical tidbit: Knodell RG, Conrad ME, Dienstag JL, Bell CJ. Etiological spectrum of post-transfusion hepatitis. Gastroenterology. 1975 Dec;69(6):1278-85. (Free full text)
Historical tidbit: How a typo created a scapegoat for the AIDS epidemic (17 Apr. 2019)
New study exposes need for better management of anaemia (IFPBM press release, 10 Apr. 2019)
- Trentino KM, Leahy MF, Sanfilippo FM, Farmer SL, Hofmann A, Mace H, Murray K. Associations of nadir haemoglobin level and red blood cell transfusion with mortality and length of stay in surgical specialties: a retrospective cohort study. Anaesthesia. 2019 Apr 1. [Epub ahead of print]
Perioperative blood management - International group releases consensus statement (3 Apr. 2019)
- Zeller MP, Kaufman RM. Safeguarding the patient’s own blood supply. (editorial) JAMA. 2019;321(10):943-5.
- Mueller MM, Van Remoortel H, Meybohm P, Aranko K, Aubron C, Burger R, et al. Patient Blood Management: Recommendations From the 2018 Frankfurt Consensus Conference. JAMA. 2019 Mar 12;321(10):983-97.
Gardner JM, McKee PH. Social media use for pathologists of all ages. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2019 Mar;143(3):282-6. (Free full text)
Razzano D, Hall A, Gardner JM, Jiang XS. Pathology engagement in global health: exploring opportunities to get involved. Arch Pathol Lab Med April 2019 Apr;143(4): 418-21.(Free full text)
What a no-deal Brexit could mean for the haematology and haematology-oncology communities (editorial) The Lancet Hematol 2019 Mar 1;6(PE110) | Download pdf
The Body Economy: Blood products in the Marketplace (Dalhousie University, 2:29 min. animated video) (16 Mar. 2019) Related website:
- Impact Ethics | Managed by Memorial University Centre for Bioethics
No, European blood is not 'incompatible' with that of refugees (8 Mar. 2019)
New method to assess platelet health could help ER doctors (13 Mar. 2019)
- Ting L H, Feghhi S, Taparia N, Smith AO, Karchin A, Lim E, et al. Contractile forces in platelet aggregates under microfluidic shear gradients reflect platelet inhibition and bleeding risk. Nature Communications, 2019;10 (1) (Free full text)
Aluminium hazard in transfusions? (5 Mar. 2019)
- Perl T, Kunze-Szikszay N, Bräuer A, Quintel M, Röhrig AL, Kerpen K, et al. Aluminium release by coated and uncoated fluid-warming devices. Anaesthesia. 2019 Feb 21. [Epub ahead of print]
Kasper CK. Judith Graham Pool and the discovery of cryoprecipitate. Haemophilia. 2012 Nov;18(6):833-5. (Free full text) | To celebrate International Women's Day
Blood doping:
- Austrian policeman charged with malpractice for leaking video of skier getting blood transfusion at Nordic World Ski Championships (25 Mar. 2019)
- Doping probe of German doctor leads to 21 athletes from 8 countries (20 Mar. 2019)
- Blood doping whistleblower released but still a suspect, say Austrian authorities (6 Mar. 2019)
- Blood doping cases a reminder for cycling not to get complacent (8 Mar. 2019)
- Austrian cyclist Preidler admits to blood extraction as doping investigation widens (4 Mar. 2019)
- Police walk in at the perfect moment to catch Austrian skier blood doping at World Nordic Ski Championships in Norway (1 Mar. 2019)
Canadian researchers develop new technique to assess blood quality without breaching blood bag sterility (14 Feb. 2019)
- Vardaki MZ , Atkins CG , Schulze HG , Devine DV , Serrano K , Blades MW , Turner RFB. Raman spectroscopy of stored red blood cell concentrate within sealed transfusion blood bags. Analyst. 2018 Dec 3;143(24):6006-13.
Dialogue with AABB President, Dr. Michael Murphy (MLO, 23 Jan. 2019)
'Unspeakable' TV series on Canada's 'Tainted Blood Scandal'
- CBC's 'Unspeakable' historical timeline
- Sneak peek of episode 8 ['Apologies'] (27 Feb. 2019)
- Sneak peek of episode 7 ['Intent'] (20 Feb. 2019)
- Sneak peek of episode 6 ['Krever'] (13 Feb. 2019)
- Sneak peek of episode 5 ['Compensation'] (6 Feb. 2019)
- Sneak peek of episode 4 [Focus on unsafe heat-treated FVIII concentrate made by Armour] (30 Jan. 2019)
- Sneak peek of episode 3 [Focus on heat-treated FVIII concentrate] (23 Jan. 2019)
- From one unaware donor to a patient in need of blood. Watch how it happened in this sneak peek clip of episode 2 (16 Jan. 2019)
- Timeline of events (1981-83) covering discovery, transmission, first reported cases of Canada's 'Tainted Blood Scandal' (CBC's 'Unspeakable' series)
- 'Unspeakable' chronicles saga of two families impacted by Canada's 'Tainted Blood Scandal' (Premieres 9 Jan. 2019; 2:45 trailer) Based on two books:
  - The gift of death: Confronting Canada's tainted-blood tragedy (1995) by André Picard
  - Bad Blood: The Tragedy Of The Canadian Tainted Blood Scandal (2002) by Vic Parsons
From the archives - Global trade in organs
- One doctor’s war against global organ trafficking (29 May 2017, PBS)
- Author of 'Red Market' sees growth in organ trade (26 Apr. 2018)
- Organ trafficking: Hiding in plain sight (26 June 2018)
- 'Bloody Harvest -Revised Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China' (2007) | You can also download 237pp. report as .pdf
Super-fast logistics of delivering blood by drone (25 Jan. 2019) | 13:31 min. video | Features UK's NHSBT and Rwanda
Higher platelet transfusion threshold appeared to increase risk for death and major bleeding among preterm infants with severe thrombocytopenia (16 Jan. 2019)
- Curley A, Stanworth SJ, Willoughby K, Fustolo-Gunnink SF, Venkatesh V, Hudson C, et al. Randomized trial of platelet-transfusion thresholds in neonates. N Engl J Med. 2019 Jan 17;380(3):242-51. Epub 2018 Nov 2.
The history of blood (14 Jan. 2019) | Review of 'Nine Pints' (Rose George) by U.S. hematologist
A guided tour of human blood: past, present, and future (4 Jan. 2019) | Review of 'Nine Pints' by Dr. David Scales
Gardner JM, Allen TC. Keep calm and tweet on: legal and ethical considerations for pathologists using social media. Arch Pathol Lab Med 2019 Jan; 143(1):75-80.

International

Egypt

COVID-19 update (9 June 2020) | Many fascinating details, including
- Al-Azhar mosque announced that monetizing plasma of patients who've recovered from COVID-19 is forbidden under Sharia.
- Egypt enters into discussions to receive 400 million doses of Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine, scheduled to be released in Sept.
Coronavirus plasma therapy trials are a ‘success’: Health Minister (6 June 2020)