“Blood Safety in the Age of AIDS” reflects upon the history of blood transfusions, the advancement in performing clean (disease-free) transfusions, and, specifically, the appearance of and efforts to prevent the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) virus in blood donations. The AIDS epidemic hitting the blood banks is not only examined as an urgent problem in its own right, but also as a warning to both doctors and patients who regularly or spontaneously require blood transfusions. This warning indicates that the idea of new diseases and epidemics are still a possibility despite medical and conditional advances through history and that additional measures should be researched in the effort to make blood transfusions less risky. The blood transfusions started out as an already dangerous procedure during its early stages. Not only were the obvious factors of cleanliness and bacteria control an issue, but the question of blood types had yet to be raised. Despite this, some early blood transfusions were successful, such as Jean-Baptiste Denys’s transfusion of lamb’s blood into an adolescent suffering from fever in 1667. Nonetheless, many early transfusions were fatal, thus research on this procedure was halted until the nineteenth century. This research began to provide tangible hope in 1901 when the first blood group (ABO) was identified by Karl Landsteiner. This discovery explained the deaths of patients who had received an incompatible blood type. Further triumphs in medicine were achieved, such as the use of sodium citrate as an anti-coagulant and increased measures to create sanitarAs these improvements surfaced over the course of the first half of the twentieth century, the general population of the 1960s saw blood transf... ... middle of paper ... ... the engineering of synthetic blood parts, and the use of growth-factor proteins have given both researchers and patients hope. Using one’s own blood via self-donations, intraoperative hemodilution (extracting blood before an operation, then dispensing it back into the body afterward), blood recycling during surgery, and designated donations are also options for patients who wish to ensure further a clean transfusion. Finally, the practice of extracting illness-fighting white blood cells from donated blood before a transfusion may filter some diseases from the donation. Though there were many innocent victims of the AIDS epidemic’s outreach to blood banks’ donated supply, this problem sparked new innovations and research that have worked to solve both the AIDS-infected blood problem, but also threats of other serious diseases and complications in blood transfusions
“A man who has had sex with another man within the last five years, whether oral or anal sex, with or without a condom or other form of protection, is not permitted to donate blood and must please not do so.”
Donating blood can be a quite rewarding experience and I encourage everyone to take part in this unique opportunity to save 3 lives with each donation.
Blood transfusion is considered the biggest advancement in medicine during the First World War. Blood transfusion helped treat shock, carbon monoxide poisoning, septicemia, and chronic wound infections of the soldiers during WWI. “The quick replacement of lost blood helped prevent the wounded from going into shock and dying,” (Steven R. Pierce). British physician William Harvey attempted the first known blood transfusion after discovering the circulation of blood in 1628. Others have repeatedly attempted blood transfusion before the war took place, they, however, generally failed. The failure was mainly due to the propensity of blood clotting and lack of ability to store them. Therefore, the donor and the recipient had to be in
Although blood transfusions had been used before the First World War, many were not successful due to lack of knowledge in this type of treatments. World War I pushed the development of blood transfusions, allowing them to be safer. Before the war in the 17th century, blood transfusions often occurred with the use of animal blood, a practice that did not achieve desired results. These transfusions often times came from sheep, and although they were sometimes successful, it was discovered that any large amounts of transfusions would cause death. Coming to the conclusion that animal blood transfusions did not save lives, scientists looked to humans for human to human transfusions. Many of these attempted transfusions were met with failure but in 1818, Dr. James Blundell accomplished the first successful human blood transfusion; four ounces of blood were transferred to the patient from her husband. From that moment on, doctors began to learn even more about blood transfusions and how to do them properly. By 1901, the four human blood groups were discovered by Karl Landsteiner; with less differences in the bloods transfused together, coagulation and clumping amounts decreased. This benefited many lives in that toxic reactions to the wrong types of blood did not occu...
Safety - It eliminates the risks brought on by blood transfusions. Aside from contracting blood borne diseases, there is no risk of human error that causes (www.pbs.org - “Bloodless Surgery”).
There has been a dramatic rise in the rate of caesarean section (CS) in the last two decade making it the most commonly performed procedure worldwide. 1Surveys (2, 3) have indicated that 3-5% of total red cells transfusion is related to obstetrics with higher rate in CS patients compared to those having vaginal delivery (1-7% versus 1%) (4, 5).
The Mayo Clinic defines a blood transfusion as “a routine medical procedure in which donated blood is provided to you through a narrow tube placed within a vein in your arm”. The first human blood transfusion on record was conducted by Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denys, a French physician during the late 1600’s. Although Denys’ transfusions weren’t sound proof and often written off as unorthodox, he unknowingly ushered in a new era of medicine and laid the foundation for modern advances in Hematology. I choose this topic because I volunteer to donate blood four times a year alongside thousands of other people. On average these donations help save 4.5 million Americans that would die in a years’ time without a blood transfusion. These generous people
Thus the vital discovery of the varieties and similarities of the blood groups provided a possible gateway for many other medical procedures in this 21st century through biomedical science. For example, blood transfusions have become a routine procedure. Consequently, many other medical practises such as surgery, blood banks, and transplants.
This product is being developed to be as an all-purpose red blood cell in which the need for perfectly matching donor to recipient blood would be eliminated. When matching up blood cells they must be identical otherwise the recipient would end up having a serious illness that in some cases are fatal. The all-purpose blood cell acts like a sort of camouflage to the body’s immune defenses that prevent it from being rejected. Even the manner in which the blood donors are now screened has effectively reduced the risk of diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis C from being transfused from person to person. Advances such as these continue to be made in every effort to improve the way blood is donated and received by both the patients and blood
They send these to labs where they will then check your blood type and scan for viruses. Determining the donor and recipient’s blood type is extremely important because of the antibodies and antigens. If there is cross matching it can cause the recipient to reject the donor’s blood and form clots. They screen for viruses by looking for antibodies, as well. They look for antibodies that are on viruses that cause diseases such as HIV, Influenza, and any other virus that are a possible concern. If any of the screenings come back positive, then the blood cannot be used, so they discard it and they will notify the donator within twenty-four
Jehovah's witnesses believe that the bible has prohibited ingesting blood and have concluded and applied the same ruling on accepting blood transfusions, donating blood or storing it for transfusion. It is considered as a non-negotiable religious stand and it is believed that those who accept and appreciate life as a gift from god should not sustain it by doing something that would condemn it, such as accepting blood. Often, the doctor's ability to help a patient is limited by their beliefs, which are to be respected. Healthcare professionals can only advise their patients of the benefits of receiving the appropriate treatment whilst explaining the risks and complications that are associated with refusing it; as the decision to proceed with or against medical advice is ultimately the patient’s choice. Providing the patient with an atmosphere of acceptance away from conservative parties that could influence their judgement negatively may allow them to make free decisions, allowing them to seek their best interest. However, shall they deny treatment and accept the consequences, it is the doctor’s duty to sympathise with and comfort them alongside doing their best to assist them and try to find ways around the presented obstacle, such as finding alternatives that would have the same desired effect as a blood transfusion. For example, alternatives such as cell-saver techniques, where the patient’s own blood is reutilized during a procedure may be considered [1]. For some patients, fractions of plasma such as albumin, cryoprecipitate may be accepted by the patient [1].
By donating blood to insure there is enough in supply, the life we save may be our own.
I have given blood before and I am aware of the questionnaire and procedures used during the blood donation process.
The Biomedical Scientists. "A Brief History of Blood Transfusion." - The Institute of Biomedical Science. IBMS, Nov. 2005. Web. 03 Dec. 2013.
Blood safety is an important issue. People end up needing blood transfusions for many reasons that all mean they have already entered the medical system needing care for injuries or disease, yet there is a risk that their treatment can hurt or even kill them. Public health has made tremendous strides in blood safety over the past few decades, but there is still more that needs to be done. Because of how broad the donation system is, individual treatment of these adverse reactions is not a good preventative measure and instead this must be seen as a public health issue. Increased reporting, studies, and analysis should be done to decrease the number of adverse reactions to blood and blood products.