International News (TraQ Program)




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INDEX

Americas

Australia

China

Germany

India, Pakistan, Bangladesh
Ireland

Mediterranean Islands

Middle East
UK
General

General

Global shift towards increased biovigilance (CMAJ, 26 Feb. 2010)
Olympics: To catch a cheating athlete
- Olympic doping lab world's most sophisticated (10 Feb. 2010)
- Anti-doping experts suspect Hematide may be being used by dopers
- Macdougall IC, Rossert J, Casadevall N, Stead RB, Duliege AM, Froissart M, Eckardt KU. A peptide-based erythropoietin-receptor agonist for pure red-cell aplasia. N Engl J Med. 2009 Nov 5;361(19):1848–55.
- IOC chief Rogge not naive about autologous blood doping (25 Feb. 2010)
Harold Meryman. pioneer in freezing RBC, dies at 88 (21 Jan. 2010)
Winter weather affects blood supply overseas:
- Ireland | Scotland | UK
Research and Markets: Blood Banking and Blood Products - Global Market Perspective (latest report)
Blood doping kits found at Astana, Lance Armstrong's team, during 2009 Tour de France (23 Dec. 2009)
Research focus on donor blood age & increased risk of complications (1 Dec. 2009)
Africa struggles to keep transfusions life-saving (30 Nov. 2009)
Conflict emerges over value of hand washing to prevent influenza (10 Nov. CMAJ)
Fixing the fatal flaw in emergency planning (10 Nov. CMAJ)
BBTS 2009 Annual Conference - Awards Presentation photographs (includes photo of Canada's Nancy Heddle receiving International Woman in Transfusion award)
TM 'giant' Dr. Eloise Giblett, author of the classic text, Genetic Markers in Human Blood, dies at 88
- Eloise Giblett (NY Times obituary)
- Eloise ('Elo') Giblett (Seattle Times obituary)
Reading list: Transfusion medicine in developing countries (TraQ clearinghouse)

Americas

CANADA

CBS: Improving organ and tissue donation & transplantation in Canada

Transfusion Ontario - "What's New":

Acute Transfusion Reactions presentation by Dr. Jacob Pendergrast
Provincial Frozen Plasma Audit Results and Recommendations
Ontario Guidelines for the Use of Intravenous Immune Globulin (IVIg)

Québec adopts no-fault insurance for transfusions, human tissues & stem cells distributed by Héma-Québec (14 Jan. 2010)

Blood ban unfair to gay men, lawyer says (6 Jan. 2010)

CBS accused of promoting pseudoscience (30 Nov. 2009)

CBS's "What's your type" promotion

Another option - Public cord blood banking available to all (26 Nov. 2009)

Unions oppose plan to eliminate nurses from blood-donor screening (20 Nov. 2009)

Transplant list swells as family size shrinks (18 Nov. 2009)

Admitting errors reduces them: Quebec to use Jewish General as model for error registry (7 Nov. 2009)

CBS decision to close NB blood centre flawed, docs tell agency (28 Oct. 2009)

Text of letter sent to CBS

Héma-Québec: Blood donations and the A(H1N1) flu vaccine (27 Oct. 2009)

Aging population a concern for the blood supply

Saberton PJ, Paez A, Newbold KB, Heddle NM. Geographical variations in the correlates of blood donor turnout rates: an investigation of Canadian metropolitan areas. Inter J Health Geogr 2009 Oct13; 8:56.

USA

Overlooked contaminant (yellow fever vaccine) found in donated blood (20 Feb. 2010)

CDC: Transfusion-related transmission of yellow fever vaccine virus – California, 2009 (MMWR, 2010 Jan 22;59(02):34–7.

CDC to monitor reactions and errors associated with blood transfusions (CDC, 18 Feb. 2010)

AIDS activist who contacted transfusion-associated HIV as a child succumbs to H1N1 influenza at age 26 (8 Feb. 2010)

ARC and other blood centers send blood to Haiti (3 Feb. 2010)

NYBC announces Haiti initiative for Jan. 25-31 (25 Jan. 2010)

Florida's Blood Centers CEO assures legislators she "gets it" and has completely overhauled business practices (12 Jan. 2010)

Backgrounder: Tracking the big business of donated blood in Orlando (Fascinating ... be sure to see pp. 2 & 3 too) (1 Feb. 2009)

Blood donor sues Stanford blood center over infection (13 Jan. 2010)

A downside of organ donation (22 Dec. 2009)

Is money tainting the blood supply? (5 Dec. 2009)

Patient with disability on Medicaid & Medicare charged $472/pint for her own blood (23 Nov. 2009)

New flu victim: blood supply (10 Nov. 2009, Wall Street Journal)

Ensuring adequate blood supplies for victims of combat-related trauma (7 Nov. 2009)

Blood donations aid Fort Hood victims (6 Nov. 2009)

$36 billion charged for blood tests & transfusions for premature infant market (Press release for nanotechnology firm but nonetheless interesting) (4 Nov. 2009)

Australia

Demand for IVIG leaves toddlers wanting (6 Feb. 2010)
- National Blood Authority (see IVIG items in right menu)
CSL scientists study HDL manufactured from donated blood (11 Dec. 2009)
Study to assess effects of patient blood management database on blood use and outcomes (11 Sept. 2009)

China & environs

80 patients contacted HIV via transfusion at hospital 12 years ago (21 Jan. 2010)
HIV / AIDS sufferers protest over rising infection levels (8 Dec. 2009)
Hong Kong & Taiwan: HIV-infected hemophiliacs to sue Cutter, which aggressively marketed non-heat treated Koate in Asia in the 1980s after other markets dried up due to AIDS (11 Oct. 2009)
Hong Kong: Patient with H1N1 swine flu dies after blood from flu survivor fails (31 Aug. 2009)

Developing countries

Uganda: Wrong transfusion killed MP's wife (25 Feb. 2010)
Reading list (TraQ clearinghouse)

Germany

Blood bags with 'intelligent' radio nodes being developed (4 Dec. 2009)
- Also see TraQ's Technology clearinghouse

India, Pakistan, Bangladesh

Pakistan: Negligence alleged after teenager dies following transfusion (23 Feb. 2010)
Bangladesh: Blood transfusion unsafe due to paid donors & poor implementation of safety standards (16 Feb. 2010)
Six children reported to have transfusion-associated HIV in Jodhpur (9 Feb. 2010)
HIV-infected blood triggers outrage (31 Aug. 2009)
Unfit blood donors thrive in Allahabad (31 July 2009)

Ireland

Call for new approach to transfusion refusals (27 Feb. 2007)
IBTS to sell unwanted plasma to manufacturers to save disposal costs (8 Jan. 2010)
Woman died after refusing transfusion (18 Dec. 2009)
IBTS rejects N. Ireland donors over vCJD fears
- ISBT 2008 Annual Report
Director of Public Prosecutions refuses to say why charges relating to HCV-infected RhIg were dropped against the former principal biochemist with the Blood Transfusion Service Board (12 Oct. 2009)
- Background: DPP drops case over HCV scandal (13 Dec. 2008)

Middle East

Jordan:Critics slam government's decision to charge fees for blood (21 Feb. 2010)
Saudi Arabia: Child gets SAR 280,000 compensation for HIV-infected blood (~$87,000 CDN)

Children to get filtered blood transfusions to beat vCJD (27 Feb. 2010)
Does vCJD still pose a major public health threat? (8 Feb. 2010)
New freeze technique to filter antibodies aids kidney transplantation (5 Feb. 2010)
IUT and IVT transfusions save child's life (human interest story; 17 Nov. 2009)
Who is excluded from giving blood?
NHS lifetime ban on 'high-risk' gay men donating blood to be reviewed (27 Oct. 2009)
- Also see TM blog: Don't ask, don't tell...Time to fold 'em or bad moon rising? (Musings on the MSM deferral policy for blood donors)
NBS donations date back 63 yrs (23 Sept. 2009)
Human interest story of toddler who received 11 intravenous transfusions for HDN (21 Sept. 2009)
Transfusion delay ruled significant factor in death of woman who died after jugular vein accidentally punctured (18 Sept. 2009)
"Meet the blood matchmaker" (17 Sept. 2009)
Wait time for liver transplants increased for group B recipients (13 Sept. 2009)

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