Granulocytapheresis Donor Deferrals Pattern at a Pediatric Tertiary Care Centre in Northern India.

Granulocyte transfusion is used to manage refractory infections in patients with severe neutropenia. One of the main challenges in providing granulocyte products is the availability of a suitable donor. This study was designed to analyse deferral patterns to appropriately create a pool of granulocyte donors.

Knowledge assessment of a donor adverse reaction severity grading tool by the National Blood Donor Vigilance Programme of India.

Background And Objectives: The severity grading tool (SGT) was recently designed by the Association for Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies (AABB) to have more objectivity in severity assignment for an adverse donor reaction after blood donation. A study was performed in India to assess the knowledge (post-training) and determine the degree of agreement of the SGT between participating centres and the subject expert group.

Materials And Methods: This prospective cross-sectional survey-based study was conducted by the National Coordinating Centre (NCC) of the National Blood Donor Vigilance Programme (NBDVP) of India.

Patient blood management in adults and children: What have we achieved, and what still needs to be addressed?

An overview of Patient Blood Management (PBM), with its main scope to preserve the patient's own blood to improve the patient's outcome, is presented here, including the research gaps that needs to be addressed, particularly in the pediatric age group. Next, novel techniques to analyse PBM data and the challenges and strategies of PBM implementation will also be discussed.

Multi-institutional experience with COVID-19 convalescent plasma in children.

Background And Objectives: Convalescent COVID-19 plasma (CCP) was developed and used worldwide as a treatment option by supplying passive immunity. Adult studies suggest administering high-titer CCP early in the disease course of patients who are expected to be antibody-negative; however, pediatric experience is limited. We created a multi-institutional registry to characterize pediatric patients (<18 years) who received CCP and to assess the safety of this intervention.

Neonatal and pediatric transfusion practices and policies in India: A survey-based cross-sectional assessment of blood centers.

Background: Blood centers play a critical role in supporting neonatal and pediatric transfusions. We aim to study the variation in pediatric/neonatal transfusion policies and practices for blood centers in India.

Study Design And Methods: This is a survey-based (45 question) cross-sectional assessment of blood centers in India supporting pediatric/neonatal transfusions.

Psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on young professionals in blood banks and transfusion services: A global cross-sectional survey.

Background And Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic brought about changes to daily life as measures to contain the spread of the virus increased across the world. The aim of this survey was to assess the psychological impact of the pandemic on young professionals (YPs) in transfusion medicine.

Materials And Methods: A cross-sectional web-based survey was distributed electronically to ISBT members inviting YPs (≤40 years) to participate.

Autoimmune hemolytic anemia in children: Clinical presentation and treatment outcome.

Background: Autoimmune hemolytic anemias (AIHA) are characterized by the destruction of red cells following the production of autoantibodies directed against them. Although AIHA in children is usually self-limiting, many still succumb to the illness due to delay in the diagnosis and treatment. AIHA in children may be secondary to autoimmune diseases, drugs, or immune deficiencies.

National blood donor vigilance programme of India: Analysis of donor adverse reactions reported during initial 2 years of implementation (2016 and 2017).

Introduction: The donor vigilance program is intended to collect and assess information on unexpected or undesirable effects or reactions resulting from blood donation. In this report, we discuss the analysis of the blood donor adverse reactions (DARs) reported in the National Blood Donor Vigilance Programme of India during the first 2 years of implementation.

Materials And Methods: DAR reporting form prepared and approved by the National Executive Committee of the Haemovigilance Programme of India was used to capture the data by the blood centers and submitted to Donor-Vigil software prepared and hosted by the official website of the National Institute of Biologicals.

Survey based cross-sectional study to analyse the variation of practices at blood centres during COVID-19 pandemic in India.

India has almost 3,000 blood centres collecting more than 11 million units annually. Maintaining blood supply during the COVID-19 pandemic is a huge challenge. We conducted a cross-sectional study by an online survey to analyse the variation of practices across blood centers of India during this pandemic.

Lessons learned in the collection of convalescent plasma during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The lack of definitive treatment or preventative options for COVID-19 led many clinicians early on to consider convalescent plasma (CCP) as potentially therapeutic. Regulators, blood centres and hospitals worldwide worked quickly to get CCP to the bedside. Although response was admirable, several areas have been identified to help improve future pandemic management.

Characterization of neutralizing versus binding antibodies and memory B cells in COVID-19 recovered individuals from India.

India is one of the most affected countries by COVID-19 pandemic; but little is understood regarding immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 in this region. Herein we examined SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies, IgG, IgM, IgA and memory B cells in COVID-19 recovered individual from India. While a vast majority of COVID-19 recovered individuals showed SARS-CoV-2 RBD-specific IgG, IgA and IgM antibodies (38/42, 90.

ABO blood group and COVID-19: a review on behalf of the ISBT COVID-19 Working Group.

Growing evidence suggests that ABO blood group may play a role in the immunopathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 infection, with group O individuals less likely to test positive and group A conferring a higher susceptibility to infection and propensity to severe disease. The level of evidence supporting an association between ABO type and SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 ranges from small observational studies, to genome-wide-association-analyses and country-level meta-regression analyses. ABO blood group antigens are oligosaccharides expressed on red cells and other tissues (notably endothelium).

Convalescent plasma to aid in recovery of COVID-19 pneumonia in a child with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

The natural history of COVID-19 infection in children is still evolving as the pandemic unfolds. Few cases of severe and often fatal COVID-19 have been reported although the infection is mild in the large majority. Children with cancers are recognised as a high risk group for all infections.

IgA-mediated autoimmune hemolytic anemia in an infant.

Autoimmune Hemolytic anemia (AIHA) a relatively uncommon form of hemolytic anemia in children, occurs due to the premature destruction of red blood cells caused by presence of autoantibodies directed against antigens on RBCs. Warm reactive AIHA is the most common form due to IgG isotype of immunoglobulin class binding to autologous RBCs at 37C and confirmed with a positive DAT screening. We present a case of DAT-negative primary warm AIHA in an infant due to IgA antibody.

Outcome of 51 autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplants after uncontrolled-rate freezing ("dump freezing") using -80°C mechanical freezer.

Background And Objective: Controlled-rate freezing is a complicated, expensive, and time-consuming procedure. Therefore, there is a growing interest in uncontrolled-rate freezing (UCF) with -80°C mechanical freezers for cryopreservation of hematopoietic stem cells. This is a retrospective analysis of efficiency of UCF and outcome of autologous peripheral hematopoietic stem cell (PBSC) transplants at our center from December 2011 to June 2016.

Hematopoietic Progenitor Cell Mobilization for Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation in Multiple Myeloma in Contemporary Era.

Successful stem cell mobilization and adequate harvesting of hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) is necessary for patients with multiple myeloma (MM) undergoing high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). Several advances have increased the efficiency and yield of HPC collection methods, and sufficient CD34 cell collection can be expected for most patients with MM considered to be ASCT candidates. However, in some patients, HPCs will fail to mobilize and an adequate number of CD34 cells will not be collected.

Dedicated donor unit transfusions reduces donor exposure in pediatric surgery patients.

Background: Many strategies have been explored to reduce multiple donor exposures in neonates such as use of restrictive transfusion protocols, limiting iatrogenic blood loss, use of recombinant erythropoietin and single donor programs.

Method: In our study we assessed the feasibility of dedicating single donor units with reserving all the components from the same donor for the specified neonates/infants undergoing surgery and estimating reduction of donor exposure. Fifty neonates undergoing surgery were included in the prospective study group and the transfusion details were compared with 50 retrospective cases with same inclusion criteria.