Global News

General News | Specific countries | Diseases | Industry News | Resource Library | Journals
Collaborating Site: CSTM

General

• New TM blog: For the times they are a-changing (Musings on COVID-19 global news)
• 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)
• 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
• The race for coronavirus vaccines: a graphical guide (28 Apr. 2020)
• Testing an old therapy against a new disease: convalescent plasma for COVID-19 (JAMA, 30 Apr. 2020)

Canada

• CSTM cancels Annual Conference (Was scheduled for May 28-31,2020 in Montréal, QC, Canada)
• BC PCBO's central transfusion registry: 20 years of data-driven initiatives (ISBT's Transfusion Today, Dec. 2019)
• Canada needs to pay plasma donors to protect its domestic supply (5 May 2020) | COVID-19 oped co-written by author of 'Markets without Limits'
• CBS: Phenotype matching and storage age of blood for sickle cell patients: A review and recommendations for transfusion practice (April 2020) | Authors: Morin P-A, Skeate R; Clarke G.
• CE/CPD:
  • CBS: Upcoming educational events
  • ORBCoN: 2020 webcast schedule

Australia

• Big calm dogs needed as blood donors (22 May 2020)

Croatia

• Healthcare system is not overburdened, minister says (29 Apr. 2020)

India

• 80% of stored blood used up; Mumbai stares at acute shortage (17 May 2020)
• 500 Rupees will be paid on donation of plasma as a journey allowance (3 May 2020) | 500 INR is ~$9.38 CDN
• Arunachal: Blood scarcity in hospitals amid Covid-19 lockdown (2 May 2020)
• Denying other patients may lead to hospital registration being cancelled (30 Apr. 2020)

Indonesia

• Blood shortage common in Ramadan, but COVID-19 makes matters worse: Indonesian Red Cross (14 May 2020)

Kenya

• Blood donor services are a unit of medical laboratory services, which are considered security installations (23 May 2020) | Oped by former officer in charge of programmes at the blood transfusion service, Ministry of Health

UK

• 2020 Annual SHOT Symposium is deferred to 2021 due to COVID-19
• Scotland: Blood bank bosses hail donor surge alongside plea for Covid-19 convalescent plasma from virus survivors (17 May 2020)
• Northern Ireland: Journalist donates blood to see how blood service works under the coronavirus (8 May 2020) | 3:01 min. video
• Scotland: Haemochromatosis patients claim NHS England treatment better (9 May 2020)
• Coronavirus: Plasma treatment to be trialled (20 Apr. 2020) | Related:
  • NHSBT clinical trial
• Infected Blood Inquiry
  • May 2020 newsletter
  • Financial Report (30 Apr. 2020)
  • Inquiry publishes individual written statements (27 Apr. 2020)
    • Individual written statements
• Infected Blood Inquiry - News:
  • Fury as victims NOT listed as 'vulnerable' during coronavirus (9 May 2020)
  • ‘The victims are dying’: Lawyer critical of speed of the Inquiry (7 May 2020)

USA

• Blood brokers pay up to $1,000 for samples from recovered COVID-19 patients (29 May 2020)
• AABB: Graphic summary of COVID-19 weekly hospital transfusion services survey: Week 10 snapshot (May 25-28,2020)
• Red Cross reports 50% drop in blood donations from African American donors (27 May 2020)
• FDA issues letters to two companies promoting human cell, tissue, or cellular or tissue-based products (HCT/P) without valid biologics license application or IND application:
  • Dr. Henry Small, TX (27 Apr. 2020): For marketing umbilical cord blood-derived cellular product to treat Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, fibromyalgia, lupus | Dr. Small's website
  • Sparrow Health Performance, AL (11 May 2020): For marketing cellular products derived from adipose tissue as "stem cell therapy" to treat many diseases/conditions, including COVID-19. | Sparrow Clinic
• Have you recovered from COVID-19? You could get paid up to $700 for a study (30 Apr. 2020)
• AABB: Patient hemovigilance | Includes Common Transfusion Reaction Reporting Form, v. 2.0 (updated) and more
• AABB: COVID-19 Weekly Hospital Transfusion Services Survey: Week 6 Snapshot | Graphic summary of survey, April 27-30, 2020
• FDA (CBER): Letter to Sponsors, Applicants and Regulated Entities on COVID-19 (30 Apr. 2020)

Industry news

• Australia: CSL joins race to develop plasma-derived immunoglobulin to treat COVID-19 (5 May 2020)
• Big Pharma:
  • Top 20 pharma companies by 2019 revenue (20 Apr. 2020)
  • Big Pharma calls for ‘billions’ in upfront coronavirus funding (20 Apr. 2020)
  • COVID gives Big Pharma a chance to revive its brutal image (18 May 2020)
• France: Sanofi walks back after saying U.S. would get COVID-19 vaccine first (14 May 2020)
• USA: FDA grants priority review of Sanofi’s Biologics License Application for sutimlimab to treat hemolysis in adult patients with cold agglutinin disease (14 May 2020)

Diseases in the news

• HCV/HIV: See UK above (Infected Blood Inquiry)
• Novel coronavirus (CoVID-19): See General, Canada, India, Indonesia, UK, USA, Industry News above , and Journals below.

Resource Library / Links

• NEW TM blog: For the times they are a-changing (Musings on COVID-19 global news)
  • April blog: Could I have this dance (Musings on a love affair with transfusion medicine for NMLW)
• 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
    • NEW COVID-19 and transfusion medicine
    • 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.
• USA:
  • NEW Advisory Council on Blood Stem Cell Transplantation: Meeting presentations (27 Apr. 2020)

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
• New open access journal (May 2020): The Lancet Microbe
• Adams PW, Warren KA, Guyette FX, et al. Implementation of a prehospital air medical thawed plasma program: Is it even feasible? J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2019;87(5):1077 -81.
• Ali SA, Tesfaghiorghis YK, Tesema MT, Achila OO. Met and unmet blood demand, recipients profiles and associated trends in Eritrea. Transfus Med. 2020;10.1111/tme.12682. Epub 2020 May 11.
• Barry C, Edmonston TB, Gandhi S, Ganti K, Kim N, Bierl C. Implementation of laboratory review of test builds within the electronic health record reduces errors. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2020 June;144(6): 742-7.
• Becker RC. COVID-19 update: Covid-19-associated coagulopathy. J Thromb Thrombolysis. 2020 May. Epub 15 May 2020.
• Blanco S, Carrizo LH, Moyano RW, Mangeaud A, Gallego SV. Gender-neutral donor deferral policies: experience in Argentina implementing individual risk-assessment policies. Vox Sang. 2020 May 4. [Epub ahead of print]
• Böttcher S, van der Velden VHJ, Villamor N, Ritgen M, Flores-Montero J, Escobar HM, et al. Lot-to-lot stability of antibody reagents for flow cytometry. J Immunol Methods. 2019 Dec;475:112294. Epub 2017 Mar 30.
• Bruhin A, Goette L, Haenni S, Jiang L, Markovic A, Roethlisberger A, et al. The sting of rejection: deferring blood donors due to low hemoglobin values reduces future returns. Transfus Med Hemother. 2020 Apr;47(2):119-28. Epub 2019 May 27.
• Bruhn R, et al; NHLBI Recipient Epidemiology and Donor Evaluation Study (REDS)-III Program. Early and sustained improvement in fatigue-related quality of life following red blood cell transfusion in outpatients. Qual Life Res. 2020 May 7. [Epub ahead of print]
• * Clarke G, et al. Vox Sanguinis International forum on the selection and preparation of blood components for intrauterine transfusion. Vox Sang. 2020 May 12. Online ahead of print.
• Dzik S. COVID-19 convalescent plasma: now is the time for better science.Transfus Med Rev. 2020 Apr 23. pii: S0887-7963(20)30026-2.
• Epstein J, Smid M, Wendel S, Somuah D, Burnouf T. Use of COVID-19 convalescent plasma in low- and middle-income countries: a call for ethical principles and the assurance of quality and safety. Vox Sang. 2020;10.1111/vox.12964. Epub 2020 May 28/
• Epstein J, Burnouf T. Points to consider in the preparation and transfusion of COVID-19 convalescent plasma. (Commentary) Vox Sang. 2020;10.1111/vox.12939. [Epub 2020 Apr 22]
• Gammon RR. The importance of PBM metrics (AABB, April 2020)
• Gehrie EA, Rutter SJ, Snyder EL. Pathogen reduction: the state of the science in 2019. Hematol Oncol Clin North Am. 2019;33(5):749-66. | PubMed abstract
• Gouache E, Py JY, Hérault B, Saliba E, Favrais G. Are single-donor red blood cell transfusions still relevant for preterm infants? J Perinatol. (Epub 28 Apr. 2020)
• * Goldman M, Butler-Foster T, Lapierre D, O'Brien SF, Devor A. Trans people and blood donation. Transfusion. 2020 Apr 28. [Epub ahead of print]
• Helms J, et al; Clinical Research in Intensive Care and Sepsis Trial Group for Global Evaluation and Research in Sepsis. High risk of thrombosis in patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection: a multicenter prospective cohort study. Intensive Care Med. 03 May 2020.
• Hult A, Toss F, Malm C, Oldenborg P-A. Invitro phagocytosis of liquid-stored red blood cells requires serum and can be inhibited with fucoidan and dextran sulphate. Vox Sang 2020 Apr 29.
• Hussaini SMQ. Dearth of infectious diseases physicians as the USA faces a global pandemic. Lancet Infect Dis. Epub 7 May 2020.
• Kacker S, Bloch EM, Ness PM, Gehrie EA, Marshall CE, Lokhandwala PM, Tobian AAR. Financial impact of alternative approaches to reduce bacterial contamination of platelet transfusions. Transfusion. 2019 Apr;59(4):1291-9. Epub 2019 Jan. 8
• Katalinic N, Starcevic A, Mavrinac M, Vuk T, Balen S. Non-conformities in tissue typing laboratory: Croatian experience. Transfus Med. 2019 Dec;29(6):442-7. Epub 2019 Oct 17.
• Keil SD, Ragan I, Yonemura S, Hartson L, Dart NK, Bowen R. Inactivation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in plasma and platelet products using a riboflavin and ultraviolet light-based photochemical treatment. Vox Sang. 2020;10.1111/vox.12937. [Epub 2020 Apr 20].
• Knee D, Knoop S, Davis AT, Rawson B, DiCarlo A, Olivero R. Outcomes after implementing restrictive blood transfusion criteria in extremely premature infants. J Perinatol. 2019;39(8):1089-97.
• Langi Sasongko PKB, van den Hurk K, Thijssen-Timmer DC. Blood supply milestones in the Netherlands in the first weeks of COVID-19. (Letter) ISBT Sci Ser. Epub 3 May 2020.
• * Lee SG, Fralick M, Sholzberg M. Coagulopathy associated with COVID-19. CMAJ 2020; early-released May 1, 2020.
• Li J, Wang X, Chen J, Cai Y, Deng A, Yang M. Association between ABO blood groups and risk of SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia. (Letter) Br J Haematol. 2020 May 7. Online ahead of print. (Free full text) | PubMed abstract
• Liao A, Burgess M, Barritt-Eyles R, Trompf L, Crispin P. Perceptions on consumer information in transfusion. A qualitative study of consumers and prescribers. Vox Sang. 2020 May 4. [Epub ahead of print]
• Melzak KA, Muth M, Kirschhöfer F, Brenner-Weiss G, Bieback K. Lipid ratios as a marker for red blood cell storage quality and as a possible explanation for donor gender differences in storage quality. Vox Sang. 2020 May 6. [Epub ahead of print] | PubMed abstract
• * Mithoowani S, Cervi A, Shah N, Ejaz R, Sirotich E, Barty R, et al. Management of major bleeds in patients with immune thrombocytopenia. J Thromb Haemost. 2020 Mar 26. [Epub ahead of print]
• * Nensi A, et al. Impact of a “blood conservation bundle” checklist on perioperative transfusion rates during myomectomy. J Minim Invasive Gynecol 2020. Epub 18 May 2020.
• Obi EI, Pughikumo OC, Korubo KI, Ejele AO. Prevalence of clinically significant antibodies in patients undergoing elective surgery in a Nigerian teaching hospital: a case for the type and screen method. Niger J Clin Pract. 2020 Feb;23(2):138-46.
• O'Sullivan JM, Ward S, Fogarty H, O'Donnell JS. More on "Association between ABO blood groups and risk of SARS-CoV-2 Pneumonia". (Letter) Br J Haematol. 2020;10.1111/bjh.16845. Epub 2020 May 18.
• Ragan I, Hartson L, Pidcoke H, Bowen R, Goodrich R. Pathogen reduction of SARS-CoV-2 virus in plasma and whole blood using riboflavin and UV light. PLoS One. 2020;15(5):e0233947. Epub 2020 May 29.
• Riveira MC, Fredrickson TA, Iha BR, Mitchell SH, White NJ, Arbabi S, Hess JR. Improving emergency department blood product use through nursing education. Transfusion. 2020 May 6. [Epub ahead of print]
• Roberts DJ. Life in times of COVID-19. (Editorial) Transfus Med 2020. Epub 13 May 2020.
• Saravanan L, Ormerod A. Transfusion support in mass casualty events: lessons for hospital and pathology preparedness from the Bourke Street Mall incident. [Epub 2020 May 24]. Med J Aust. 2020;10.5694/mja2.50611.
• Shakor SQ, Salih HS. Blood transfusion knowledge and practices among nurses in Kirkuk city hospitals. Mosul J Nursing 2020;8,(1): 18-28.
• Sward LB, McKelvey SS, Pollack SL, Badger PD, Ounpraseuth ST, Cottler-Fox M. A hands-on resident umbilical cord blood educational curriculum compared to online education of post-residency obstetricians: comparison of the volume of collected cord blood units. Transfusion. 2019;59(6):2150-4.
• Valk SJ, Piechotta V, Chai KL, et al. Convalescent plasma or hyperimmune immunoglobulin for people with COVID-19: a rapid review. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2020;5:CD013600. Published 2020 May 14.
• Vasavda C, Ho BK, Snyder SH. Ease restrictions on U.S. blood donations. (Letter) Science 2020 May 29;368(6494): 957.
• Wang Y, Han W, Pan L, Wang C, Liu Y, Hu W, et al. Impact of COVID-19 on blood centres in Zhejiang province China. Vox Sang. 2020 Apr 29. [Epub ahead of print]
• * Yazer MH, et al. Vox Sanguinis International Forum on Transfusion Services about Response to COVID-19.Vox Sang. 2020 May 8. [Epub ahead of print]
• * Yazer MH, Shaz B, Seheult JN, Apelseth TO, de Korte D, Devin G, et al. Trends in platelet distributions from 2008 to 2017: a survey of twelve national and regional blood collectors. Vox Sang. 2020 Apr 13. [Epub ahead of print]