Department of Technical Support Services, Division of Laboratory Services, Ministry of Health
The new WHO guidelines provide recommended steps for safe phlebotomy and reiterate accepted principles for drawing, collecting blood and transporting blood to laboratories/...highlight medbox">blood banks.
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The provision of safe and efficacious blood and blood components for transfusion or manufacturing use involves a number of processes, from the sele...ction of blood donors and the collection, processing and testing of blood donations to the testing of patient samples, the issue of compatible blood and its administration to the patient. There is a risk of error in each process in this “transfusion chain” and a failure at any of these stages can have serious implications for the recipients of blood and blood products. Thus, while blood transfusion can be life-saving, there are associated risks, particularly the transmission of bloodborne infections.
Screening for transfusion-transmissible infections (TTIs) to exclude blood donations at risk of transmitting infection from donors to recipients is a critical part of the process of ensuring that transfusion is as safe as possible. Effective screening for evidence of the presence of the most common and dangerous TTIs can reduce the risk of transmission to very low levels.
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This interim guidance to national health authorities and blood transfusion services outlines the steps required to collect convalescent whole blood...> (CWB) or plasma (CP) from Ebola virus disease (EVD) recovered patients for transfusion to patients with early EVD, as an empirical treatment modality.
Document contents:
Guidance on donor selection, screening, donation and handling of blood and plasma units;
guidance on transfusion of convalescent whole blood or plasma;
other considerations.
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External quality assessment (EQA) is an important component of quality systems for blood transfusion services. Establishing external quality assessment programmes for screening of donated ...s="attribute-to-highlight medbox">blood for transfusion-transmissible infections (TTI): implementation guide aims to support WHO member States in establishing and operating EQA programmes for screening donated blood for TTI. The guides has been designed for use by national health authorities and EQA organizing institutions in the development of EQA programme. It will also give participating laboratories an insight into the organization of EQA programmes for TTI screening and an understanding of the benefits of participation.
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Access to safe blood and blood products is recognized as one of the key requirements for delivery of modern health care in the journey towards health for all. The foundation of safe and sustainable ...blood supplies depends on the collection of blood from voluntary non-remunerated and low-risk donors. Data from the WHO Global Database for Blood Safety (GDBS) brings out several inadequacies related to the supply and safety of blood and blood products. These inadequacies include a number of variations in safe blood practices across the world, including the quantity of blood donated (voluntary and replacement types), quality and adequate testing of the donated blood (immunohaematology [IH] and transfusion-transmitted infections [TTIs]), rational use of blood and blood components such as appropriate patient blood management protocols. These variations are very high in countries of the South-East Asian Region and most of them are either low- or middle-income countries (LMICs).
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The five hepatitis viruses have different epidemiological profiles, and their impact, duration, and transmission route also vary. The most common transmission routes contributing to the spread of hepatitis are exposure to infected blood via ...ass="attribute-to-highlight medbox">blood transfusion or unsafe injection practices, consumption of contaminated food and drinking water, and transmission from mother to child during pregnancy and delivery. Also, unsafe injection practices, including the use of unsterile needles and syringes, serve as a major pathway for the spread of hepatitis B and C, and reducing transmission of both diseases requires addressing these practices.
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Over 6 million people worldwide are infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, the protozoan that causes Chagas disease. Endemic in 21 Latin American countries, the disease can be transmitted by vector insects called triatomines — also known as “kissing bugs” —, foods or beverages contaminated with th...e parasite, blood transfusions, organ transplants, or congenitally during pregnancy or delivery.
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In 2005, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized Chagas disease (CD; Trypanosoma cruzi infection) as a neglected tropical disease (NTD) [1] and included it into the global plan to combat NTDs [2]. The Target 3.3 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN/SDG) aims at ending the e...pidemics of NTDs by 2030 [3]. Mother-to-child (congenital/connatal) transmission is currently the main mode of transmission of T. cruzi over blood transfusions and organ transplantations in vector-free areas within and outside Latin America (LA). Based on recent demonstrations that congenital transmission can be prevented [4–7], WHO has shifted its objective, in 2018, from control to elimination of congenital CD (cCD).
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L’évaluation externe de la qualité (EEQ) est une composante importante des systèmes qualité des services de transfusion sanguine. L’EEQ est l’évaluation externe de la qualité générale des résultats obtenus par un laboratoire dans l’...analyse d’échantillons de contrôle dont le contenu est connu, mais n’a pas été dévoilé, et la comparaison de ces résultats avec ceux qu’ont obtenus d’autres laboratoires qui ont analysé les mêmes échantillons. Dans les laboratoires qui pratiquent le dépistage des infections transmissibles par transfusion (ITT) dans les dons de sang, la participation à l’EEQ aide à surveiller et améliorer la qualité des résultats. Les informations issues de l’EEQ permettent d’améliorer continuellement la qualité en mettant en évidence les erreurs d’un laboratoire et d’appliquer des mesures pour éviter qu’elles se reproduisent. L’EEQ joue ainsi un rôle essentiel dans l’amélioration de la sécurité transfusionnelle.
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