COVID-19 and the impact on blood availability and transfusion practices in low- and middle-income countries.

Background/case Studies: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted the global blood supply. Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) already experienced blood supply deficits that preceded the pandemic. We sought to characterize the challenges experienced during the pandemic, and adaptations, such as COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP).

A country-wide comparison of cost recovery and financing systems of blood and blood products.

Background: As blood is a scarce and expensive resource, irrational blood usage places huge burden on health expenditures. In response to this challenge, governments and health care providers are developing different strategies to optimize blood utilization. Among these strategies is trying to raise the public awareness on the actual costs of the blood production and changing the cost recovery systems of blood and blood components.

Availability and safety of blood transfusion during humanitarian emergencies.

Background: Availability and safety of blood transfusion is a major concern in countries affected by humanitarian emergencies. These emergencies increase demand for blood transfusion and make its delivery challenging and complex. Nevertheless, there is a lack of information on emergency preparedness and response capacity of blood transfusion services and on the challenges in meeting patients' needs.

Seeking health care from a general hospital in Uganda following a fracture or a dislocation.

Introduction: Selecting a treatment approach and a facility to get treated from, poses a challenge in musculoskeletal injuries in Africa. The study aimed at determining demographic and injury characteristics of patients with musculoskeletal injuries and how these impact the time and reason for presenting to a general hospital in Uganda.

Methods: An observational study was carried out at Entebbe general hospital on patients presenting with musculoskeletal injuries between 1 November 2014 and 28 February 2015.

Family donors are critical and legitimate in developing countries.

Introduction: For many years, family blood donors have been considered less safe than volunteer non-remunerated blood donors and actively discouraged by international organisations and affluent countries support agencies for developing countries. In addition to safety, pressure and coercion was considered unethical. However these assumptions were not supported by evidence.

Investments in blood safety improve the availability of blood to underserved areas in a sub-Saharan African country.

Background And Objectives: Since 2004, several African countries, including Namibia, have received assistance from the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

Trends of Blood and Plasma Donations in Kazakhstan: 12-Years Retrospective Analysis.

Background: Each country faces a continuing challenge to collect enough blood to meet the national needs. According to WHO, there should be at least 20 blood donations per 1,000 population for developing countries, in Kazakhstan this indicator was only 16.8 in 2011.

The impact of external donor support through the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief on the cost of red cell concentrate in Namibia, 2004-2011.

Background: External assistance can rapidly strengthen health programmes in developing countries, but such funding can also create sustainability challenges. From 2004-2011, the U.S.

Epidemiological Aspects of Hepatitis B and C Markers in Blood Donors in Kazakhstan; 2000-2011.

Background: Transfusion-transmissible infections such as hepatitis B and hepatitis C are among the greatest threats to blood safety for transfusion recipients and pose a serious public health problem. The aim of this study was to assess the epidemiological aspects of hepatitis B and C in Kazakhstani donor's blood over the period 2000-2011.

Methods: The data were obtained from the annual reports of the Republican Blood Center.

Blood loss and contributing factors in femoral fracture surgery.

Background: Substantial blood losses frequently accompany orthopedic procedures.

Methods: We prospectively noted peri-operative hemoglobin changes in 93 patients undergoing surgery for femoral fracture with an aim of establishing blood loss and related factors.

Results: The mean total blood loss assessed 72 hours after the surgical procedure was 3.

Surgical blood order equation in femoral fracture surgery.

Aim: This study aimed at establishing the clinical utility of the surgical blood order equation (SBOE) in patients undergoing femoral fracture surgery.

Background: A blood ordering schedule defines the perioperative blood use in elective surgery. It lists the number of units of blood required for each procedure preoperatively.

Bottlenecks of blood processing in Uganda.

Aim: To identify where and why delays occur in Uganda blood banks.

Background: The timely provision and supply of safe and efficacious blood components to hospitals depends on sound systems in the processing blood banks. Poorly managed systems lead to apparent blood shortages in hospitals and increase discard rates due to expiry before dispatch.

Filling a gap in transfusion medicine education and research.

After the outbreak of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, attention was focused on the restructuring and reorganization of nationally supported safe and sustainable blood supply systems. Networking and human capacity building in transfusion medicine were developed through World Health Organization initiatives. Educational materials were created for the core elements of the blood transfusion chain.

Web interface-supported transmission risk assessment and cost-effectiveness analysis of postdonation screening: a global model applied to Ghana, Thailand, and the Netherlands.

Background: The goal of our research was to actively involve decision makers in the economic assessment of screening strategies in their region. This study attempted to accomplish this by providing an easy-to-use Web interface at http://www.bloodsafety.

Bedside practice of blood transfusion in a large teaching hospital in Uganda: An observational study.

Background: Adverse transfusion reactions can cause morbidity and death to patients who receive a blood transfusion. Blood transfusion practice in Mulago Hospital, Kampala, Uganda is analyzed to see if and when these practices play a role in the morbidity and mortality of patients.

Materials And Methods: An observational study on three wards of Mulago Hospital.

Blood platelet production: a novel approach for practical optimization.

Background: The challenge of production and inventory management for blood platelets (PLTs) is the requirement to meet highly uncertain demands. Shortages are to be minimized, if not to be avoided at all. Overproduction, in turn, leads to high levels of outdating as PLTs have a limited "shelf life.

The use of a World Health Organization Transfusion Basic Information Sheet to evaluate transfusion practice in Croatia.

Background And Objectives: To assess the feasibility of using the World Health Organization (WHO) Transfusion Basic Information Sheet as a bedside tool for data collection and assessing transfusion practice.

Materials And Methods: A prospective 6-month audit of all transfusion episodes using the tool.

Results: Eight hundred and twenty-two forms were completed, capturing data on 59.

Cord blood from collection to expansion: feasibility in a regional blood bank.

This article reviews the various aspect of the experimental phase preceding the establishment of an umbilical cord blood (UCB) bank within a regular blood bank, a situation totally different from that of de novo establishing a cord blood bank having human and financial resources. An ethically approved two-year study has been conducted to determine the technical feasibility, and the practical problems that might be encountered such as public compliance, the additional workload, introduction of new activities ranging from collection and processing to progenitor expansion, infectious disease testing, development of a quality control system, record keeping and documentation, development of specific procedures and definitions of requirements. The cost benefit aspect, which will ultimately depend on the frequency of units release, was not considered in this study.

Comparison of serum S-100 protein levels following stroke and traumatic brain injury.

Temporal changes in serum S-100 protein levels were compared between patients with ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attack (TIA) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). In addition, S-100 levels were correlated with clinical severity and outcome. Measurements were done with a LIA-mat((R)) Sangtec((R)) 100 using an automated immunoluminometric assay.

The in vitro effects of cytokines on expansion and migration of megakaryocyte progenitors.

Increasing the number of megakaryocyte progenitors in stem cell transplants by ex vivo expansion culture may be an approach to accelerate platelet recovery in patients undergoing high-dose chemotherapy. We evaluated the effect of three different cytokine combinations on expansion, with special emphasis on the type of colony formation and migration of megakaryocytic cells. The number of clonogenic megakaryocyte progenitors (colony-forming units-megakaryocyte; CFU-Mk) with high- (> 20 cells/colony) and low-proliferative capacity (5-20 cells/colony) and the number of megakaryocytic (CD61+) cells were significantly increased by including interleukin 3 (IL-3) or IL-3 + IL-6 + IL-11 + Flt3-ligand to cultures containing megakaryocyte growth and development factor (MGDF) plus stem cell factor (SCF).