Blogue

A powerful collaboration between blood services, research institutions and industry leaders promises to advance blood transfusion therapy to new levels of precision and safety.

Canadian Blood Services recently published its annual Surveillance Report, a summary of monitoring efforts related to transmissible infection testing in donors; possible transfusion-transmitted infections in recipients; and new, emerging pathogens. Surveillance also includes monitoring of donor safety.

Transfusions can be a life-saving treatment for people living with sickle cell disease but finding compatible blood can be a challenge because Black and racialized donors—the ones with the best potential to match most SCD patients— are underrepresented in the donor pool. Read about initiatives that can support this patient group by improving the red blood cell inventory.

For the second year, the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT) offered their annual congress online. In June 2021, the virtual “ISBT In Focus” explored the latest in transfusion medicine and science, immunohematology and cellular therapies. In today’s blog, two Canadian Blood Services’ delegates describe their experiences at the congress.