Background: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spurred a global health crisis. The safety and supply of blood during this pandemic has been a concern of blood banks and transfusion services as it is expected to adversely affect blood system activities. We aim to assess the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) during the first months of the pandemic. Materials and Methods: A survey was designed to address blood supply, transfusion demand, and donor management during the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic. Medical directors of different blood banks were invited to participate. Results: A total of 16 centers participated with representation from 15/22 countries in the region. 75% were from national blood banks. Most centres had a decrease in the blood supply, ranging from 26-50%. Representatives from 14 countries (93.3%) believed that public fear has contributed to a decrease in donations. Most centres (n=12, 87.5%) had a reduction in transfusion demand, while those who did not, reported heavy involvement in treating patients with underlying haemoglobinopathies and haematological malignancies. Half of the centres activated their contingency plans. Four centres had to alter the blood donor eligibility criteria to meet demands. All centres implemented donor deferral criteria in relation to SARS-CoV-2, but were variable in measures to mitigate the risk of donor and staff exposure. Conclusion: Blood services in the region faced variable degrees of blood shortages. We summarize lessons learnt during this pandemic for the blood banks to consider to plan, assess, and respond proportionately to future similar pandemics.

Background The role of convalescent plasma therapy for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) is unclear. Methods We retrospectively compared outcomes in a cohort of critical COVID‐19 patients who received standard care (SC Group) and those who, in addition, received convalescent plasma (CP Group). Results In total, 40 patients were included in each group. The median patient age was 53.5 years (interquartile range [IQR] 42–60.5), and the majority of patients required invasive ventilation (69, 86.2%). Plasma was harvested from donors after a median of 37 days (IQR 31–46) from the first positive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) result and 26 days (IQR 21–32) after documented viral clearance; it was administered after a median of 10 days (IQR 9–10) from the onset of symptoms and 2.5 days (IQR 2–4) from admission to intensive care unit. The primary endpoint of improvement in respiratory support status within 28 days was achieved in 26 patients (65%) in the SC Group and 31 patients (77.5%) in the CP Group ( p = .32). The 28‐day all‐cause mortality (12.5% vs. 2.5%; p = .22) and viral clearance (65% vs. 55%; p = .49) were not significantly different between the two groups. Convalescent plasma was not significantly associated with the primary endpoint (adjusted hazard ratio 0.87; 95% confidence interval 0.51–1.49; p = .62). Adverse events were balanced between the two study groups. Conclusion In severe COVID‐19, convalescent plasma therapy was not associated with clinical benefits. Randomized trials are required to confirm our findings.

Background: Millions of lives around the world are being saved annually through blood transfusion. However, blood transfusion is among the essential vehicles for transmitting infections. The overall prevalence of Transfusion Transmissible Infections among blood donors differs around the world, reflecting the variation in the prevalence of these infections. This study aims to assess the prevalence and trends of Transfusion Transmissible Infections among blood donors in Qatar. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study utilizing donation records of 5 years from January 2013 to December 2017. We included in the study results for all screening and confirmatory tests for Hepatitis B Virus, Hepatitis C Virus, Human T-lymphotropic Virus-I/II, Syphilis and Malaria. Results: Among the 190,509 donations received at the donation centre during the study period, about 91% of donations were received from males and 9% from females. The overall positivity rate for all tests was 1.87, 2.23, 1.78, 2.31, 2.67% for the years 2013 through 2017, with an increasing yearly trend by 6% each year.

Autologous blood transfusion (ABT) has been frequently abused in endurance sport and is prohibited since the mid-1980s by the International Olympic Committee. Apart from any significant performance-enhancing effects, the ABT may pose a serious health issue due to aging erythrocyte-derived “red cell storage lesions.” The current study investigated the effect of blood storage in citrate phosphate dextrose adenine (CPDA1) on the red blood cell (RBC) membrane proteome. One unit of blood was collected in CPDA1 blood bags from 6 healthy female volunteers. RBC membrane protein samples were prepared on days 0, 14, and 35 of storage. Proteins were digested in gel and peptides separated by nanoliquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry resulting in the confident identification of 33 proteins that quantitatively change during storage. Comparative proteomics suggested storage-induced translocation of cytoplasmic proteins to the membrane while redox proteomics analysis identified 14 proteins prone to storage-induced oxidation. The affected proteins are implicated in the RBC energy metabolism and membrane vesiculation and could contribute to the adverse posttransfusion outcomes. Spectrin alpha chain, band 3 protein, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, and ankyrin-1 were the main proteins affected by storage. Although potential biomarkers of stored RBCs were identified, the stability and lifetime of these markers posttransfusion remain unknown. In summary, the study demonstrated the importance of studying storage-induced alterations in the erythrocyte membrane proteome and the need to understand the clearance kinetics of transfused erythrocytes and identified protein markers.

Blood doping in sports is prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). To find a possible biomarker for the detection of blood doping, we investigated the changes in blood stored in CPDA-1 blood bags of eight healthy subjects who donated one unit of blood. Aliquots were taken on days 0, 14, and 35. Platelet-free plasma was prepared and stored at −80°C until analysis on a flow cytometer dedicated for the analysis of microparticles (MPs). Changes in the number of red blood cell (RBC) -MPs were highly significant (p < 0.0001) with a mean of 219 (10^3/μL) on day 0 changing to 23 120 (10^3/μL) on day 14 and 29 310 (10^3/μL) on day 35. We conclude that RBC-MPs seem to be a promising biomarker for doping control but confirmation by a transfusion study is necessary.