25 August 2021 (Wednesday) - Transfusion News Update

In something of a break with tradition the Transfusion News email wasn’t as relevant to my daily round as it usually is. But still interesting nonetheless…

Convalescent Plasma Does Not Prevent Disease Progression in COVID-19 Emergency Room Patients

August 24, 2021 Very few therapeutic options are available early in infectious disease epidemics with the exception of convalescent plasma. In August 2020, the U.S. FDA authorized COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) for the treatment of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 based on a large observational study, which reported the risk of death was substantially lower in patients who received a higher titer CCP. Several more recently published randomized controlled trials, however, did not show CCP improved outcomes in patients with moderate to severe disease. [Read More]

FROM OUR SPONSOR Join us to learn about the blood groups and antigens recently recognized by the ISBT

In this new Transfusion Science Webinar, Dr. Christoph Gassner, professor of Medical Biology at the Institute for Translational Medicine of the Private University in the Principality of Liechtenstein, will walk us through the process of recognizing new blood group systems and antigens. Using the most recent blood group systems identified by the ISBT from 2019 to 2021, he will show how complex it is for a blood group to be fully recognized. [Register Now]

SARS-CoV-2 Seropositivity of U.S. Blood Donors Prior to Availability of Vaccines

August 18, 2021 In the United States, blood collection organizations, including the American Red Cross (ARC), started testing all donations for antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 as an incentive for donation and for the identification of COVID-19 convalescent plasma donors. From June 15 to November 30, 2020, prior to the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, the ARC collected 2,191,731 whole blood, red blood cells, and platelet donations from 1,531,221 donors. [Read More]

Mean Fluorescence Intensity to Select HLA-Matched Platelets

August 13, 2021 Over two million units of platelets are transfused each year in the United States—the majority to hematology-oncology patients. Alloimmunization against class I human leukocyte antigens (HLA) can lead to platelet transfusion refractoriness (PTR); finding matched or compatible platelets is challenging and time-consuming. Thus, other matching methods are under investigation. [Read More]