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Global News

General

• Tainted blood timeline | Excellent site with links to resources in UK, Canada, etc.
• 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

Canada

• CSA Z902 2020, draft version of Standards for Blood and Blood Components, open for public review (Jan. 16 - Mar. 16, 2019
• Paid plasma clinic bleeding Sask. dry, says critic as NDP calls for ban (23 Jan. 2019)
• Bad blood. The unspeakable truth (11 Jan. 2019)
• Background: 'A systemic deconstruction of the Canadian tainted blood tragedy' by Gilles Paquet and Roger A Perrault (From October 27, 2015) | Authors dispute 4 accusations from the Krever Report
• 'Unspeakable' TV series on 'Tainted Blood Scandal'
  • CBC's 'Unspeakable' historical timeline
  • Sneak peek of episode 4 [Focuses on unsafe heat-treated FVIII concentrate made by Armour] (Airs 30 Jan. 2019)
  • Sneak peek of episode 3 [Focuses on heat-treated FVIII concentrate] (Airs 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 (Airs 16 Jan. 2019)
  • Timeline of events (1981-83) covering discovery, transmission, first reported cases of Canada's 'Tainted Blood Scandal' (CBC's 'Unspeakable' 7 part 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
• CBS: Upcoming educational events
  • Note: Jan/Feb educational events includes 'Best Practices in Providing Culturally Competent Care for Trans Blood Donors. Does Blood Donation Effectively Reduce Hemoglobin for Donors Taking Testosterone?'

Australia

• Highest rates of infection by HTLV-I, but no one cares (11 Jan. 2019) Related earlier item:
  • HTLV-1 is endemic across central Australia. Testing takes six months and is not freely available (24 Apr. 2018)

Ghana

• Health Ministry issues directive to ensure transport of blood from one facility to another is done by only qualified health professionals, not patients' relatives (11 Jan. 2019)

India

• ‘HIV window period major issue in blood donation’ (19 Jan. 2019) | Because NAT testing unavailable
• Woman who got HIV after transfusion delivers girl (18 Jan. 2019)
• Government asks USA's CDC to withdraw/modify Zika virus alert on pregnant women travelling to India (30 Dec. 2018)
• Second time in a month, pregnant woman claims she was transfused with HIV+ blood at public hospital (29 Dec. 2018)

Iran

• ‘High potential for local production of plasma-derived medicine’ (12 Jan. 2019)

Malta

• MOU between National Blood Transfusion Service and local councils signed to promote blood donations (15 Jan. 2019)

Pakistan

• Over 1,500 tested positive for hepatitis in Islamabad (12 Jan.2019)

UK

• Brexit halt to blood donor sessions amid traffic fears reversed (29 Jan. 2019)
  • Background Brexit plan to halt blood donations overruled by DOH (29 Jan. 2019)
• Bolton-Maggs PHB. Conference report: International Haemovigilance Seminar and the SHOT Annual Symposium, 10-12 July 2018. Transfus Med. 2018 Dec 27. [Epub ahead of print] | Note: You can download supporting information
• Infected Blood Inquiry:
  • Also see General above (Tainted blood timeline)
  • Inquiry outlines how it will notify witnesses or organisations to be criticised by other witnesses or by the Inquiry in its final report (31 Jan. 2019)
  • Haemophilia Society is ordered by Infected Blood Inquiry Chairman to pass on crucial documents and files (30 Jan. 2019)
  • Inquiry confirms dates/venues for public hearings and outlines how witnesses will be selected (24 Jan. 2019)
  • Inquiry launches innovative way to collect evidence (10 Jan. 2019)
  • Government slammed for forcing contaminated blood widow into financial ruin days after husband’s death (8 Jan. 2019)
  • Scottish ministers were told in 2003 that UK Health Department was investigating claim contaminated blood was being "knowingly supplied" (1 Jan. 2019)
  • What I learned from a year reporting on the blood contamination scandal (30 Dec. 2018)

USA

• Controversial startup Ambrosia that charges $8,000 to transfuse young blood now claims to be operating in 5 U.S. cities (19 Jan. 2019)
  • Please don’t pay $8,000 for an infusion of young blood (17 Jan. 2019)
• Some help found, but more is needed for Florida girl with rare blood In(b-) phenotype (14 Jan. 2019)
• Baylor St. Luke's replaces president, two other executives following latest lapse of patient death after transfusion of wrong blood group (14 Jan. 2019)
• Screening all donated blood for Zika virus is not cost-effective in the United States (8 Jan. 2019)
  • Russell WA, Stramer SL, Busch MP, Custer B. Screening the blood supply for Zika virus in the 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico: a cost-effectiveness analysis. Ann Intern Med. 2019 Jan 8. [Epub ahead of print]
• Worldwide drive to find blood match for 2-year-old comes to San Francisco (6 Jan. 2019) | Child has rare In (a+b-) phenotype.
  • 4th donor found to help girl with rare blood type; search continues (4 Jan. 2019)
  • Earlier repot on Fox News falsely claimed she had Bombay blood group (18 Dec. 2018)
• Ambrosia founder hawks young blood as a new miracle treatment. All that's missing is proof (29 Dec. 2018)

Industry news

• From the archives: Big Pharma & tainted blood scandal:
  • USA: Hemophiliacs settle AIDS lawsuit (14 Aug. 1996)
  • U.S. Supreme Court rejects appeal in HIV settlement (20 Apr. 1999)
  • Josefson D. Haemophilia patients launch action against Bayer over contaminated blood products. BMJ. 2003 Jun 14;326(7402):1286. (Free full text)
  • McHenry L, Khoshnood M. Blood money: Bayer's inventory of HIV-contaminated blood products and third world hemophiliacs. Account Res. 2014; 21(6):389-400.
  • Bayer hit with class-action lawsuit on behalf of foreign hemophiliacs who received unsafe FVIII concentrate that couldn't be sold in USA (3 June 2003)
• Also see USA above (Ambrosia x2)

Diseases in the news

• HCV/HIV: See UK above (Infected Blood Inquiry)
• Zika virus: See India and USA above

Resource Library / Links

• NEW TM blog: Unforgettable (Musings on the CBC's Unspeakable about Canada's 'tainted blood scandal')
  • Dec. TM blog: Those were the Days (Musings on physicians I've worked with over a lifetime)
• AUSTRALIA:
  • 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:
  • CBS BloodTechNet program
  • CBS-sponsored LearnTransfusion series
  • 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
    • ORBCoN Report (Nov. 2018)
    • Bloody Easy 4 (Guide to Transfusion Medicine, ed. 4)
    • Bloody Easy Blood Administration, v. 2
    • 2018 webcast schedule

Journals, etc.

Free full text papers | * 1 or more Canadian authors

• Bolton-Maggs PHB. Conference report: International Haemovigilance Seminar and the SHOT Annual Symposium, 10-12 July 2018. Transfus Med. 2018 Dec 27. [Epub ahead of print] | Note: You can download supporting information
• Booth AL, Roy-Chowdhuri S. Becoming an engaged pathologist. Arch Pathol Lab Med 2019 Feb;143(2):149-50.
• Evangelia-Eleni C, et al. Ex vivo generation of transfusable red blood cells from various stem cell sources: A concise revisit of where we are now. Transfus Apher Sci. 2018. EPub Dec 31, 2018.
• Josefson D. Haemophilia patients launch action against Bayer over contaminated blood products. BMJ. 2003 Jun 14;326(7402):1286.
• Jug R, Jiang X"S", Bean SM. Giving and receiving effective feedback: a review article and how-to guide. Arch Pathol Lab Med: 2019 Feb;143(2): 244-50.
• Kanagasabai U, Chevalier MS, Drammeh B, et al. Trends and gaps in national blood transfusion services - 14 sub-Saharan African countries, 2014­2016. MMWR 2018;67:1392­6.
• * Keir AK, New H, Robitaille N, Crighton GL, Wood EM, Stanworth SJ. Approaches to understanding and interpreting the risks of red blood cell transfusion in neonates. Transfus Med. 2019 Jan 21. [Epub ahead of print]
• Kim J, Weigand M, Palmer AF, Zborowski M, Yazer MH, Chalmers JJ. Single cell analysis of aged RBCs: quantitative analysis of the aged cells and byproducts. Analyst. 2019 Jan 8. [Epub ahead of print]
• Klinkenberg EF, Langi Sasongko PKB, de Kort WLAM, van Weert JCM, Fransen MP, Huis In 't Veld EMJ. The supply chain of migrant blood donors: an organisational interview study. Vox Sang. 2019 Jan 9. [Epub ahead of print]
• McHenry L, Khoshnood M. Blood money: Bayer's inventory of HIV-contaminated blood products and third world hemophiliacs. Account Res. 2014; 21(6):389-400.
• Russell WA, Stramer SL, Busch MP, Custer B. Screening the blood supply for Zika virus in the 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico: a cost-effectiveness analysis. Ann Intern Med. 2019 Jan 8. [Epub ahead of print]
• Shin KH, Lee HJ, Park KH, Hye BM, Chang CL, Kim HH. Extended red blood cell genotyping to investigate immunohematology problems. Ann Lab Med. 2018 Jul;38(4):387-8.
• Watson-Brown P, Viennet E, Mincham G, Williams CR, Jansen CC, Montgomery BL, Flower RLP, Faddy HM. Epidemic potential of Zika virus in Australia: implications for blood transfusion safety. Transfusion. 2019 Jan 8. [Epub ahead of print]