What's New - Chronological (July 2019)

Also see What's new by topic | What's new - Archives

• BC PBCO
• NEW TraQ's June newsletter

22 July

• Canada: Canadian Blood Services, BC & Yukon Region WNV Update (19 July 2019)
• NZ: Woman died after Waitemata DHB staff failed to properly treat her ongoing bleeding (22 July 2019)
  • Report by the Health and Disability Commissioner (17 June 2019)
• UK (Infected Blood Inquiry):
  • Hearing in Wales begin 23 July 2019 BBC Wales, 4:23 min. video)
  • At least 300 victims in Wales (22 July 2019)
• USA (AABB): Grading Severity of Blood Donor Adverse Events Tool (6 June 2019)
  • Online Feedback Form
  • Deadline to provide feedback: 15 August 2019
• USA (AABB): Center for Patient Safety, a component Patient Safety Organization (PSO) was discontinued April 30, 2019 | AABB Releases Patient Hemovigilance Supplemental Data Forms
• USA (AABB, ABC, ARC): Joint letter to HHS Secretary Azar to continue funding two advisory committees, HHS's ACBTSA and FDA's BPAC (17 July 2019) | Background:
  • President Trump Executive Order 13875 of June 14, 2019: Evaluating and Improving the Utility of Federal Advisory Committees
• USA: Walking blood bank can save lives on the battlefield (22 July 2019)
• Kenyon M, Babic A, editors. The European Blood and Marrow Transplantation Textbook for Nurses: Under the Auspices of EBMT [Internet]. (Open access textbook)
• Peedin AR, Perjar I, Mazepa MA, Rollins-Raval MA, Park YA, Raval JS. The top 10 things to know about transfusion medicine before intern year: an evidence-based course for graduating medical students. Blood Res. 2019 Jun;54(2):125-30. Epub 2019 Jun 25. (Free full text)

18 July

• Canada: Study finds blood transfusions can be cut in cardiac surgery (17 July 2019)
  • Garg AX, Badner N, Bagshaw SM, Cuerden MS, Fergusson DA, Gregory AJ, et al;TRICS Investigators and Perioperative Anesthesia Clinical Trials Group. Safety of a restrictive versus liberal approach to red blood cell transfusion on the outcome of AKI in patients undergoing cardiac surgery: a randomized clinical trial. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2019 Jul;30(7):1294-1304. Epub 2019 Jun 20.
• France: Restrictions on blood donations from gay men to be changed to 4 months without MSM (17 July 2019)
• UK (Infected Blood Inquiry): Infected or affected, all the victims of our national blood scandal are owed closure (16 July 2019)
• Thomas AB, Shammas RL, Orr J, Truong T, Kuchibhatla M, Sergesketter AR, Hollenbeck ST. An assessment of bleeding complications necessitating blood transfusion across inpatient plastic surgery procedures: a nationwide analysis using the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Database. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2019 May;143(5):1109e-1117e.

12 July

• Can red cell exchange treat advanced sickle cell disease? (10 July 2019)
• 3D printed technology streamlines ELISA, lowers cost (25 June 2019)
• UK (Infected Blood Inquiry):
  • Twins with HIV 'treated like lab rats' (11 July 2019)
• Industry news: Six things Big Pharma doesn't want you to know (Médecins Sans Frontières, 10 July 2019)
• Öhrner C, Kvist M, Blom Wiberg K, Diedrich B. Why do young men lapse from blood donation? Vox Sang. 2019 May 23. [Epub ahead of print]

10 July

• Philippines: Surge in dengue cases puts strain on Iloilo blood supply (9 July 2019)
• UK: 2018 Annual SHOT Report (9 July 2019) | 210 pp.
• UK (Infected Blood Inquiry):
  • 'Mr. X' tells of hepatitis 'hell' (10 July 2019)
  • Woman given ‘death sentence’ from HIV-infected kidney transplant (9 July 2019)
  • Contaminated bloods' 'devastating' toll on Highlands family (9 July 2019)
  • 'Death sentence' Scots mum given contaminated blood after miscarriage (8 July 2019)
• Liu R, et al. Prevalence of Zika virus in blood donations: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Infect Dis. 2019 Jul 6;19(1):590. (Open access)

6 July

• Canada: There’s a way to avoid blood plasma shortages: pay donors (4 July 2019) |
  • Oped by Peter Jaworski, adjunct scholar at libertarian Cato Institute and co-author of Markets Without Limits.
• Ireland/UK (Northern Ireland): Church of Ireland calls on Sec. of State for N.Ireland to provide financial compensation to victims of infected blood (5 July 2019)
• Kenya: National Blood Transfusion Service and Human Organs Transplantation to adopt new organ transplantation law (2 July 2019)
• Rwanda: Drones in health care: What is their impact on quality care and delivery? (5 July 2018)
• UK (Scotland): NHS Tayside forced to rush in new blood supplies after Ninewells power cut (5 July 2019)
• UK (Infected Blood Inquiry): Medical records were destroyed, blood probe told (3 July 2019)
• USA: DOD seeks 'theater blood' tracking app (5 July 2019)
• From the archives (HCV lookback programs):
  • Callum JL, Pinkerton PH, Coovadia AS, Thomson AE, Dewsbury F. An evaluation of the process and costs associated with targeted lookbacks for HCV and general notification of transfusion recipients. Transfusion. 2000 Oct;40(10):1169-75.
  • Culver DH, Alter MJ, Mullan RJ, Margolis HS. Evaluation of the effectiveness of targeted lookback for HCV infection in the United States-interim results. Transfusion. 2000 Oct;40(10):1176-81.
• Ziemer RE, James S. Newman JS. Practical considerations in the dangers associated with blood transfusion: a century later. (letter to editor) Mayo Clin Proc. 2019 Jul; 94(7)7:1386-7. (Free full text)

2 July

• India: Five suspended for wrong blood group transfusion in Andhra Pradesh (30 June 2019)
  • Suspended were 2 physicians, 2 nurses, and a blood bank technician. Apparently after the death, blood group records and specimens were changed to cover up what happened.
• UK (Infected Blood Inquiry): Scottish victims reveal 'coalition of secrecy' (2 July 2019)
• Industry news: Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and top deputy Balwani ordered to stand trial in 2020 (28 June 2019)
• Fenger-Eriksen C, Fries D, David J-S, Bouzat P, Lance MD, Grottke O, et al. Pre-hospital plasma transfusion: a valuable coagulation support or an expensive fluid therapy? (editorial) Critical Care 2019; 23:238 EPub 1 July 2019. (Open access)

1 July

• Canada: ORBCoN Report - June
• Eswatini (formerly Swaziland): Students remain the main source of safe blood (WHO, 26 June 2019)
• Notani N, etal. Fibrinogen level on admission is a predictive marker of the need for massive blood transfusion after pelvic fracture. Am J Emerg Med. 2019 Jun 24. [Epub ahead of print]