How to find, recruit and maintain rare blood donors

Abstract

The need for rare blood has been recognized for nearly 50 years, and there are some very effective programs across the world, but not all the areas of the world are equally supplied. The International Society of Blood Transfusion Working Party for Rare Donors is a vital link in the worldwide goal of providing rare blood to the patients who need it.

Multicolor Staining of Globin Subtypes Reveals Impaired Globin Switching During Erythropoiesis in Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

“…hiPSCs are particularly advantageous, as blood group type O Rh-negativederived hiPSCs could potentially serve as a universal source of red blood cell transfusion. The hiPSC technology could also contribute to production of rare types of erythrocytes-for example, D2, Fy(a2b2), Di(b2), and Jr(a2) [5]. However, it is well known that hiPSC clones are heterogeneous with respect to their differentiation potential [6].…”

Molecular analysis of immunized Jr(a–) or Lan– patients and validation of a high‐throughput genotyping assay to screen blood donors for Jr(a–) and Lan– phenotypes

“…Furthermore, variable expression of the Jr a and Lan antigen makes serologic screening unreliable . In general (except for Japan) the availability of Jr(a–) or Lan– units is very low and often only present as frozen units . To increase the availability of Jr(a–) and Lan– units all blood donors should be screened for the Jr(a–) and Lan– phenotype.…”

Provision of blood products for the highly immunized patient

“…In a recent publication, the difference in what is seen as very rare in various countries was detailed. See Table 1 [5]. The rare type becomes even more difficult to provide when the patient also has antibodies to common antigens.…”