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Results for “Canadian Red Cross”

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PubMed1973

Frequency of hepatitis B antigen in blood donors.

Routine testing of all blood donations for hepatitis B antigen by counter-immunoelectrophoresis was started in April 1971. The frequency of HBAg carriers among apparently healthy volunteer blood donors in the Toronto Centre of the Canadian Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service was 15 in 10,000 with a male:female ratio of 6:1. Excluding penitentiary inmates, the highest incidence was among young, male, non-Anglo-Saxon city dwellers.A system of notification of HBAg-positive donors was developed, through which a carrier is referred to a special clinic for clinical and pathological evaluation.A survey of hospital patients indicated an incidence of HB antigen 3.5 times that of our healthy donor population. A comparison of the number of post-transfusion hepatitis cases occurring before and after the commencement of routine testing for HBAg showed a marked reduction in reported cases in 1971.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1971

Effect of a preparative technique on the viability of concentrated red cells.

In a study of the technique employed by the Canadian Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service in Montreal, the authors found that the packed red blood cells from 10 healthy donors had a mean hematocrit of 83 +/- 1.45 with a 24-hour red cell survival after three weeks' storage of 79.4 +/- 2%. The technique used a centrifugal force of 6975 G, the practical maximum of present-day equipment. In addition to finding excellent survival of packed cells subjected to extreme plasma deprivation and extreme forces of centrifugation they also report excellent survival of stored, highly concentrated red cells infused under pressure.

Blood Preservation↗
PubMed1984

Anti-IgA-mediated transfusion reactions in Canada.

During a 6-year period (1977 to 1982) blood samples from 152 Canadian patients were referred to the national reference laboratory of the Canadian Red Cross Society because the referring hospitals had not been able to determine the cause of the patients' severe nonhemolytic transfusion reactions. Twenty-one patients were found to be IgA deficient, and 12 of them had strong class-specific anti-IgA antibodies, which were presumed to have been responsible for the reactions. The spectrum of symptoms that accompanied these violent reactions was documented for 10 of the patients. As a probable minimum, the incidence of anti-IgA-mediated reactions averaged 1.3 per million units of blood or blood products transfused during this period.

Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic↗
PubMed1995

What happens to donated blood?

Pursuing their chief work--gathering, processing and distributing blood--the blood donor centres of the Canadian Red Cross Society follow standard operating procedures like those in place at the Ottawa centre. Here, recruitment staff and volunteers work to recruit donors to meet needs at a time when the number of donors is falling. When they register, donors must show proof of identity. Each receives a permanent identification number that is linked to the numbers assigned to the units of blood each donates and to the date the unit was collected and the centre that collected it. Donors must answer questions about health and high-risk activity, and the blood of those who report high-risk activity is not accepted. Units are screened by automated instruments for syphilis, hepatitis B and C, HIV types 1 and 2, and human T-cell leukemia virus. Units with a negative test result are broken down into components for use in hospitals. A reactive test result prompts quarantining of the unit and a second screening test. If this test result is also reactive, a sample of the unit is sent to the National Testing Laboratory for confirmatory testing, and the unit is discarded. Once it has the results of the confirmatory test, the centre contacts the donor. Blood is now considered a drug. Red Cross practices in Canada and around the world have been changing since 1989 to reflect this.

Blood↗
PubMed1995

Controversy still simmers over plan to build plasma-fractionation plant in Nova Scotia.

Controversy still simmers over a plan by the Canadian Red Cross Society and a US biopharmaceutical manufacturer to build a plasma-fractionation plant near Halifax. The unilateral decision to go ahead with the plant was taken as the Krever inquiry into Canada's blood-supply system was holding public hearings across the country. A panel created to evaluate the proposal has supported the fractionation plant, but made additional recommendations concerning product pricing, research and development, plasmapheresis centres and membership of the Board of Directors.

Chemical Fractionation↗
PubMed1994

Use of blood donation history of people with HIV infection to identify recipients at risk.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether previous blood donations from HIV-positive patients posed a threat to recipients. DESIGN: Interviewer-administered questionnaire survey. SETTING: Regional HIV outpatient referral clinic for southern Alberta. PATIENTS: All 478 patients attending the clinic from May 1, 1993, to Mar. 31, 1994; 366 were excluded: 335 had not donated blood, and 31 could not provide reliable information regarding possible donations. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were asked at a routine clinic visit regarding the dates, frequency and location of previous blood donations. The Canadian Red Cross was informed, with patient consent, if the previous donations posed a potential risk of HIV transmission. OUTCOME MEASURES: Number of HIV-positive patients whose donations posed a possible or definite risk to recipients. RESULTS: A total of 545 units of blood had been donated by the 112 patients in the study; 57 units (donated by 29 patients) posed a possible risk, and 12 (given by 11 patients) posed a definite risk of HIV transmission to the recipients. Thirty-two of these donors had been unknown to the Red Cross through its "look-back" and "trace-back" protocols. Only 1 of the 13 patients found to be HIV positive by the Red Cross openly admitted donating blood to undergo HIV antibody testing; the remainder were either ill-informed or did not perceive themselves to be at risk. The patients were highly mobile, 36.7% donating blood at some time in a province other than the one where they had received their positive HIV test result. CONCLUSION: Asking HIV-positive patients about their blood donation history, although subject to recall bias, is a simple and inexpensive method for identifying high-risk blood donations. The Red Cross should routinely be notified, with patient consent, of all donations posing a risk in order to enhance the prospect for identifying HIV-positive blood recipients.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Cost of allogeneic and autologous blood transfusion in Canada. Canadian Cost of Transfusion Study Group.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the cost, from a societal perspective, of blood transfusion in Canada. STUDY DESIGN: Cost-structure analysis. SETTING: Data were collected from eight hospitals and from six blood centres operated by the Canadian Red Cross Society in four provinces. OUTCOME MEASURES: Costs associated with four stages of transfusion-- collection, production, distribution and delivery--in 1933 were assessed. Costs were divided into the following categories; personnel, purchases, external services, overhead, donors' time, patients' time (for autologous transfusion), wastage and infection. RESULTS: The mean overall cost of a transfusion performed on an inpatient basis was $210 per unit of red blood cells for an allogeneic transfusion and $338 per unit of blood for an autologous transfusion. The mean cost of an allogeneic transfusion performed on an outpatient basis was $280 per unit of red blood cells. CONCLUSION: The costs determined in this study can be used in future studies comparing the cost-effectiveness of allogeneic transfusion with that of alternative methods.

Blood Banks↗
PubMed1998

Notifying patients exposed to blood products associated with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: theoretical risk for real people.

BACKGROUND: In July 1995 the Canadian Red Cross Society recalled blood products because of the hypothetical risk of transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) through those blood products. The authors undertook a survey to determine the views of patients and parents of patients about being notified that they or their child had received such blood products. METHODS: The study population consisted of 528 transfusion recipients, of whom 453 (85.8%) were under 16 years of age, notified by the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, of the CJD recalls in 1995 and 1996. Families attending an information session were asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire (85 cases). Ninety-seven families randomly selected from those who did not attend the session were interviewed by telephone. The questionnaire was adapted from a questionnaire used to evaluate families' responses to notification of transfusion and risk of HIV infection. RESULTS: More than 80% of the respondents said they wanted to be notified and would want to be notified if there were another recall. On initial receipt of the notification about two-thirds of the respondents had been anxious, fearful or angry. There was no one method of conveying the information that suited all, but a personalized letter was seen as the most acceptable method. INTERPRETATION: Most parents of children who have received blood products are in favour of being informed about the risk of CJD, despite the uncertainty of the information on risk and the anxiety that such information causes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Henry Dunant and Norman Bethune: a Canadian surgeon who worked with H. Dunant at the Battle of Solferino.

Following a description of both scenarios involved in the Battle of Solferino (1859), and the consequent horrors which spurred Henry Dunant to set up the International Red Cross organisation, for which he received the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, the present paper discusses the meeting between Henry Dunant and the Canadian surgeon Norman Bethune (1822-1892). During the days immediately after the battle, they worked together, and Bethune voluntarily operated on the injured soldiers, probably at the hospital of Brescia. In the final part, we describe the life of Norman Bethune, grandfather of the famous Henry Norman Bethune, hero of Maoist China. Norman Bethune was not only a famous surgeon in Toronto, but also Dean of the Medical School at Trinity College in 1856, a colleague of Dr George Ansel Sterling Ryerson, (recognised as founder of the Canadian Red Cross), and other members of the First Central Council of the same organisation. We suggest that Dr Norman Bethune communicated his Italian and European experience with Henry Dunant the founder of the International Red Cross, to his colleagues.

Canada↗
PubMed1997

With a system in turmoil, will there be enough blood?

In a short time Canadians won't be able to recognize their blood-collection system. With the Red Cross getting out of the blood business and the government and business moving in, what will the changes mean for Canadians and their physicians?

Blood Banks↗
PubMed1998

"I won't do surgery if you don't try to do my job," head of new blood agency tells MDs. Interview by Anne Mullens.

Ken Fyke is known as a tough administrator, and he is going to need all of his administrative tricks as first chair of Canadian Blood Services, the new national organization that is taking over responsibility for the nation's blood supply from the Red Cross come September. Fyke says he hopes to work closely with physicians, but they will have to realize where their responsibilities end and his begin.

Blood Banks↗