
December 4, 2009
Africa struggles to keep transfusions life-saving.
The rate of HIV infection from blood transfusions is high, but a network of social clubs is working to educate volunteer donors (The Star, Canada)
Canadian Blood Services Promotes Pseudoscience (Ottawa Skeptics)
National Commissioning of Blood, Components and Specialist Services 2010/11, Executive Summary (NHS Blood and Transplant, UK, 26 Nov 2009) [PDF file includes analysis on the cost of prion safety measures]
November 27, 2009
CJD blood filter call for under-13s. Children under 13 undergoing a blood transfusion should be given specially filtered blood to cut the risk of fatal new variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (CJD), say government scientists (BBC News) Also see: UK Department of Health Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (SaBTO) , Summary of the Eighth Meeting, 27 October 2009 [PDF File]
September 27, 2009
British surgeon combines stem cells with artificial heart in world first (Times Online UK)
August 7, 2009
The Serious Hazards of Transfusion (SHOT), a UK haemovigilance program, releases Summary & Report for 2008
July 25, 2009
Platelet donation rules tightened: Canadian Blood Services has told women who have been pregnant that they can no longer donate (Ottawa Citizen)