What's New - March 2020 (By topic)

Also see What's new - chronological | What's new - Archives

General News | Specific countries | Diseases | Industry News | Resource Library | Journals
Collaborating Site: CSTM
NEW TraQ's March newsletter

General

• New TM blog: We are the world (Musings on COVID-19's impact on the world's blood supply)
• Wiley offers complimentary access to COVID-19 research Includes journal articles from AABB, ASFA, BBTS, BSH, ISLH ISBT, ISTH

Canada

• CSTM cancels Annual Conference (Was scheduled for May 28-31,2020 in Montréal, QC, Canada)
• ORBCoN cancels 15th Annual Transfusion Medicine Education Videoconference Symposium (Was scheduled for 15 April 2020)
• ORBCoN (coronavirus-related resources): Emergency blood management
• More CE/CPD:
  • CBS: Upcoming educational events
  • ORBCoN: 2020 webcast schedule

Australia

• Australia: Blood and plasma donors needed to replenish dwindling supplies (3 Apr. 2020)

Ireland

• IBTS - No evidence of coronavirus transmission through blood (1 Apr. 2020)

Pakistan

• First patient who recovered from coronavirus donates blood plasma for treatment (2 Apr. 2020)

Switzerland

• University Hospital Basel transfuses first two COVID-19 patients with INTERCEPT treated coronavirus convalescent plasma (Cerus press release, 2 Apr. 2020)

Turkey

• Red Crescent warns blood supplies dwindling amid COVID-19 outbreak (1 Apr. 2020)

UK

• Infected Blood Inquiry
  • Further instruction letters for expert groups published (20 Mar. 2020)
  • Inquiry files paperwork in judicial review - Court asked to review decision-making process (19 Mar. 2020)
  • Change to dates for next hearings due to Coronavirus (17 Mar. 2020)

USA

• AABB launches new COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Website
• ARC seeks people fully recovered from COVID-19 who may be able to donate plasma
• FDA (COVID-19 related):
  • FDA launches Coronavirus Treatment Acceleration Program (CTAP) | Related: FDA Continues to Accelerate Development of Novel Therapies for COVID-19 (31 Mar. 2020)
  • Guidance for Industry,Investigators, and Institutional Review Boards: Guidance on Conduct of Clinical Trials of Medical Products during COVID-19 Pandemic (Updated April 2, 2020)
  • Guidance for Industry: Notifying FDA of a Permanent Discontinuance or Interruption in Manufacturing Under Section 506C of the FD&C Act Guidance for Industry (March 2020)
  • Revised Recommendations for Reducing the Risk of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Transmission by Blood and Blood Products (April 2020) | One year deferral for MSM reduced to 3 months
• Houston Methodist performs the nation’s first plasma transfusion to treat COVID-19 (31 Mar. 2020) | Related:
  • Shen C, Wang Z, Zhao F, Yang Y, Li J, Yuan J, et al. Treatment of 5 critically ill patients with COVID-19 with convalescent plasma. JAMA. 2020 Mar 27. [Epub ahead of print] (Free full text) | PubMed abstract

Industry news

• See Switzerland above (Cerus's INTERCEPT)

Diseases in the news

• HCV/HIV: See UK above (Infected Blood Inquiry)
• Novel coronavirus (CoVID-19): See Australia, Canada (ORBCoN resources), Ireland, Pakistan, Switzerland, Turkey, and USA above

Resource Library / Links

• NEW TraQ's March newsletter
• NEW TM blog: We are the world (Musings on COVID-19's impact on the world's blood supply)
  • February blog: You don't own me (Musings on questioning Dr. orders)
• AUSTRALIA:
  • Free information for patients & children (via Australia's NSW government, includes comic book 'My first Transfusion' by Canada's McMaster Transfusion Research Program)
  • Australia/New Zealand: ANZBT Guidelines
  • BloodSafe ELearning Australia has new free courses based on Iron Deficiency Anaemia
    • Essentials/Paediatrics/Preoperative/Heavy Menstrual Bleeding/Maternity/Chronic and Complex
  • BloodSafe ELearning Australia has a new free course: Viscoelastic Haemostatic Testing
    • The course provides an introduction to the methodology and clinical use of viscoelastic haemostatic tests, thromboelastography (TEG^®) and thromboelastometry (ROTEM^®), which are used to assess haemostasis in patients with major bleeding.
  • BloodSafe ELearning Australia has new free courses based on Patient Blood Management Guidelines: Module 6 - Neonatal and Paediatrics:
  • PBM for Neonatal and Paediatrics
  • Neonatal Preterm
  • Fetal and Neonatal Alloimmune Thrombocytopenia
  • Paediatric Haematology/Oncology
  • Paediatric Surgical
  • Paediatric Major Haemorrhage
  • Paediatric Iron Deficiency Anaemia
• CANADA:
  • TM physicians develop new e-learning tools - “Treat the Bleed”
  • BC PBCO
    • Blood Products
    • Contingency Plan for Arboviruses
    • Education
    • Programs (appropriate product use and safety)
    • Resources
    • TraQ case studies
    • PBCO-TraQ manuals
    • TraQ's monthly newsletter
  • Canadian Blood Services
    • A Guide to Reporting Adverse Transfusion Events (Jan. 2020)
    • Clinical Guide to Transfusion | Latest updates:
      • Fractionated Blood Products and Associated Pathogen Safety - Ch. 7 (10 Sept. 2019)
      • Donor Selection, Donor Testing and Pathogen Reduction - Ch. 6 (8 Aug. 2019)
    • Serological best practices Includes the following:
      • Diego BGS: anti-Di^a; anti-Wr^a
      • Kell BGS: anti-Js^a; anti-Kp^a
      • Lewis BGS: Lewis antibodies / Lutheran BGS: anti-Lu^a
      • MNS BGS: anti-M / Rh BGS: anti C^w; anti-V
      • Whole blood donors with antibodies
    • CBS BloodTechNet program
    • CBS-sponsored LearnTransfusion series
  • Héma-Québec: Plasma donation: what happens after (3:40 min. video)
  • Choosing Wisely Canada's transfusion recommendations (Entertaining and informative 2-2.5 min. animated videos)
  • Blood & Blood Clots
    • Educational resources housed on CanadiEM dedicated to the management of bleeding and thrombosis
    • Resources include Interactive Quizlets, Blog Posts, and Podcasts
  • ORBCoN
    • NEW Coronavirus-related resources: Emergency blood management
    • Coagulation Simplified Flipbook, v. 2 (Nov. 2019)
    • Transfusion Committee Handbook, v3 (Updated Sept. 2019) | Scroll to download link
    • Home Infusion Toolkit v2.0
    • Bloody Easy 4 (Guide to Transfusion Medicine, ed. 4)
    • Bloody Easy Blood Administration, v. 2
    • 2020 webcast schedule
  • UK
    • SHOT Bite No 11: Respiratory symptoms during transfusion (20 Jan. 2020)
    • NHS England: Maternal intravenous immunoglobulin for the prevention of allo-immune fetal and neonatal haemochromatosis (Dec. 2019) | Multiple documents
    • Five SHOT posters (2019 BBTS Annual Scientific Meeting)
    • New SHOT videos (3 Sept. 2019)
      • Transfusion laboratory transfusion errors (6:50 mins)
      • Pulmonary complications of transfusion - TRAL, TACO, TAD (6:15 mins.)
    • 2018 Annual SHOT Report (9 July 2019) | 210 pp.
• Cord Blood Connect International Congress: On-line recordings of 2019 presentations (Sept. 13-15 in Miami Beach,USA)

Journals, etc.

Free full text papers | * 1 or more Canadian authors

• Free sample journal issues
  • Brit J Haematol 2019 Jan; 184(1):1-112. | Special Issue: Themed Issue: Hodgkin Lymphoma Today and Tomorrow
  • Brit J Haematol 2017 June;177(6):827-1007. | Special Issue:Low to middle income countries
  • Immunohematology (J of American Red Cross): 1988-2017. (Articles in these years are free)
  • AABB journal Transfusion 2019 Jan; 59(1):1-431.
  • Transfus Med Rev 2019 Jan;33(1):1-68.
  • Vox Sang 2019 Jan;114(1):1-103.
• Open access journal: The Lancet Digital Health 2019 May;1(1):e1-e44.
• Transfus Med Hemother 2019 Oct; 46(5): Many open access articles
• Transfusion Evidence Alert (Jan. 2020, 10 new articles)
• Ebrahimi M, Dayer D, Jalalifar MA, Keikhaei B, Tahan Nejad Asadi Z. Association between HLA-DRB1*01 and HLA-DRB1*15 with alloimmunisation in transfusion-dependent patients with thalassaemia. Transfus Med. 2020 Mar 30. [Epub ahead of print]
• Shen C, Wang Z, Zhao F, Yang Y, Li J, Yuan J, et al. Treatment of 5 critically ill patients with COVID-19 with convalescent plasma. JAMA. 2020 Mar 27. [Epub ahead of print] | PubMed abstract