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Heading into the third year of the pandemic, the US blood supply is at a 10-year low
3 febrero 2022 14:11 CET
The blood supply in the U.S. is now at its lowest level in over a decade.
Many of the nation’s blood centers currently have only a one-day supply of some blood types in inventory. This is dangerous because blood transfusions are needed for many surgeries. Blood is also used in the treatment of diseases like sickle cell anemia and certain cancers – and is critical to help those who suffer injuries from accidents or disasters.
In January 2022, the American Red Cross declared its first-ever national blood crisis. A joint statement by the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association said that the “severity and duration of this shortage could significantly jeopardize the ability of health care providers to meet the many urgent needs of our patients and communities.”
AHA, AMA, ANA joint statement on blood shortages
JAN 27, 2022
The following statement is attributable to:
American Hospital Association
American Medical Association
American Nurses Association
As health care providers, we are critically aware of the importance of having a steady and robust supply of blood and blood products to save the lives of our patients. But the COVID-19 pandemic poses ongoing challenges to organizations that have bolstered our blood supply for many years— such as businesses, houses of worship and universities—by hosting large blood drives. Over the past year, as we have caught up on delayed surgeries, treated many trauma patients, and cared for others who need transfusions, the need for blood has increased while staffing shortages and high rates of COVID-19 in communities have diminished donations.
We face a blood supply crisis the American Red Cross calls its worst blood shortage in over a decade.
Red Cross declares a ‘blood crisis’ as supply runs out at hospitals and blood banks
January 17, 20225:17 PM ET
The Red Cross has, for the first time, declared a national blood donation crisis. Some hospitals say they’re rationing blood products. And blood banks are scrambling to encourage donations.
Saudis urged to donate blood as pandemic hits stock levels worldwide
06 February 2022 RAWAN RADWAN
- Survey shows lockdowns, misinformation and a lack of knowledge widened the gap between demand and supply
- Health experts want healthy Saudis to donate blood to help boost stock levels affected by pandemic restrictions
JEDDAH: Health systems the world over have been stretched to their absolute limits by successive waves of COVID-19, which have resulted in crowded hospitals, delayed medical procedures, and doctors and nurses becoming exhausted and overstretched.
Doctors, nurses, hospitals warn blood shortage could jeopardize ability to meet patients’ needs
BY SARAKSHI RAI – 01/27/22 11:51 AM EST
Health care workers warned on Thursday that a blood shortage could jeopardize their ability to adequately care for patients.
In an statement issued by the American Hospital Association, the American Nurses Association and the American Medical Association, workers said that the current “severity and duration” of the blood supply shortage could “significantly jeopardize” the ability of health care providers to meet the many urgent needs around the country.
The U.S. currently faces its worst blood shortage in over a decade.
MUSC Health encourages blood donations in face of national shortage
January 14, 2022
Whether it’s someone losing blood because of injuries from a car crash or a child with sickle cell disease who needs a transfusion, donated blood is critical to modern medicine.
In Charleston alone, MUSC Health goes through 500 units of blood each week. But blood supplies are alarmingly low, so much so that MUSC Health and The Blood Connection held a joint press conference Thursday urging people to donate and to organize blood drives. Earlier in the week, the American Red Cross announced a “national blood crisis,” citing the worst shortage in a decade.
Henry Ford: Blood Supply Critically Low, Hospitalizations Continue to Rise
January 13, 2022
As COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to climb, Henry Ford Health System today made a public plea for blood donations because of a critically low blood supply affecting hospitals nationwide.
New York Blood Center Facing Shortage, In Need Of Donations
December 2, 2021
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — As Omicron spreads, the New York Blood Center says it’s facing a shortage emergency and needs donations.
Right now, the region’s blood supply is at a one- to two-day level when the ideal range is five to seven days.
The blood center says the shortage is due to multiple factors, including more people working from home and fewer blood drives being organized.
Red Cross response in 2021: Families face emergency needs amid COVID-19, climate change, and global conflict
30 November 2021
INDIANA – In 2021, people in the Indiana Region and across the country faced great emergency needs as the ongoing pandemic exacerbated the challenges related to severe disasters, blood shortages, and global conflict.
Covid-19 Fiji: Red Cross calls for urgent blood donations, assures it’s safe
4 October 2021
,
Fijians have been assured it is safe to donate blood during a Covid-19 outbreak in the community.
Fiji’s Red Cross Society warned the country’s blood supply continued to be impacted by the pandemic.
This had prompted the organisation to carry out a nation-wide blood drive campaign that began when the latest outbreak hit in April this year.
Red Cross director-general Ilisapeci Rokotunidau said it was pleasing to see people turn up at their blood-drive locations across the country.
Cerus Corporation Applauds FDA Requirements Effective Today to Safeguard the U.S. Platelet Supply
October 1, 2021 8:00 AM
CONCORD, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Today marks the effective date for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) final guidance document on bacterial risk control strategies for platelet collection and transfusion. This guidance for industry, “Bacterial Risk Control Strategies for Blood Collection Establishments and Transfusion Services to Enhance the Safety and Availability of Platelet for Transfusion,” which was finalized in 2020, identifies FDA-approved pathogen reduction as a means of compliance and, as such, provides a way to protect the U.S. platelet supply from bacterial contamination using the INTERCEPT Blood System for platelets. Cerus Corporation’s (Nasdaq: CERS) INTERCEPT Blood System for platelets also reduces risk beyond bacteria, inactivating a broad range of viruses and parasites, as well as the white blood cells that can cause transfusion-associated graft-versus-host disease.
Hemanext Successfully Closes Series A Equity Funding Round, Bringing Total Raised To More Than $100 Million
Thu, September 30, 2021
Leading Blood Storage Innovator Expanded Series A Round to Accommodate Interest from Noted Private Investors
Transformative Technology CE Marked for Sale in European Markets in April 2021; Company Will Submit for FDA Authorization Later This Year
LEXINGTON, Mass., Sept. 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Hemanext Inc., a leading innovator in blood processing and storage technology, today announced that it has successfully closed its Series A fundraising round, raising $15m from both existing and new investors. The company has now raised more than $100 million since its founding.
Why O-negative blood is liquid gold in life-or-death situations
Canadian Blood Services, August 27, 2021
Without O-negative blood, many patients would die.
A trauma patient arrives at the emergency room. Staff don’t know her blood type, and it will take about an hour to find out. She doesn’t have an hour. She’s bleeding too much.
Thankfully, she can rely on the generosity of O-negative blood donors to keep her alive when every moment matters.
O-negative blood donors, sometimes called “universal blood donors,” are essential to saving the lives of patients when we don’t know their blood type.
What is O-negative blood?
A person’s blood type is determined by protein and sugar molecules on their red blood cells.
Blood donations on military bases down significantly
Eric White@FEDERALNEWSCAST
March 22, 2021 11:05 am
The military’s program for collecting blood and plasma donations says it’s facing an emergency supply problem. Fewer people are donating at on-base blood donation centers during the COVID-19 pandemic. At one site at Fort Hood, Texas, for example, donations are down between 5-to-15 per week. Normally, the center would be getting about 500 per week.
The Department of Homeland Security is about ready to kick the third iteration of its popular small business contract called First Source into high gear. DHS plans to release the final First Source 3 solicitation in early April. The multiple award contract has a $10 billion ceiling. The draft RFP detailed two functional areas, IT value resellers and software licensing and services. DHS expects to make awards until early 2022 and extended the current First Source contract through March 2022. BGov reports DHS and its components spent most the three-and-a-half billion dollars on First Source 2 since 2016.
Covid Pandemic Prompts Blood Shortage Crisis
2nd July 2021 / Coronavirus Zimbabwe & Diaspora, Zimbabwe
IN FEBRUARY, as Enita Kwaramba’s anemia wracked her with headaches and dizziness, she went to a hospital in Mhondoro, a rural district in western Zimbabwe. She learned she needed two pints of blood.
The hospital had blood, but not enough for her.
She got one pint, but “they reserved the other one for emergencies,” says the 33-year-old single mother. Hospital officials promised to contact her once they received more blood from Harare, the capital. Two weeks later, it still hadn’t come.
“When you are told that you have low blood and you go to a hospital for medical care, but the blood supply is not enough, you end up having fears that you might end up dying,” says the tall, slim Kwaramba, her voice frail.
Blood shortage forces New England surgery delay
Associated Press
Periodic, localized blood shortages are not uncommon, but this shortage is ‘unprecedented in its scope’
BOSTON – Some New England hospitals are delaying or rescheduling surgeries because of a shortage of blood donations during the pandemic.
“We haven’t seen anything like this in about 30 or 40 years at least,” Dr. Vishesh Chhibber, director of transfusion medicine at UMass Memorial Health, told the Boston Globe.
Periodic, localized blood shortages are not uncommon, but this shortage is “unprecedented in its scope,” said Dr. Claudia Cohn, chief medical officer for the American Association of Blood Banks.
As supplies reach critically low levels, NYBC and New York Mets expand fan blood drive
GABRIELE HOLTERMANN / Feb 12 2021
Five weeks after their semi-annual blood drive in January, the New York Blood Center and the New York Met hosted a second Mets Fan Blood Drive on Thursday, Feb. 11, at 10 locations across Queens and Brooklyn.
The blood supply was already critically low due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it took another hit because of the recent snowstorms. The New York Blood Bank’s supply has dropped to 1,500 units of blood, and the organization urges New Yorkers to donate blood, especially O-blood donors.
STB&TC; warns of critical blood shortage, donors needed
Feb 11, 2021
The South Texas Blood & Tissue Center distributed more than 1,081 units of blood to local hospitals in only two days last week.
Only 480 blood donations were made on the same two days in total. The demand for blood donors remains extremely urgent, with 500 donations a day needed to meet patient needs.
It’s a disturbing trend that shows no signs of changing. The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed a secondary national health emergency – a dramatic blood shortage for patients from coast to coast.
“The need for blood increased 35 percent in January, far more than what we normally see around this year,” said Adrienne Mendoza, vice president of Blood Operations at South Texas Blood & Tissue Center, a subsidiary of San Antonio-based nonprofit BioBridge Global. “This is straining our local blood supply and putting our community at risk.”
The Future of Our Blood Supply Chain is Digital
Feb 10, 2021 / Troy Hilsenroth
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our nation’s blood supply was not very apparent in public discussion. And yet the radical shifts in the demand for blood products, and the availability thereof, should be studied and analyzed to improve the robustness and resilience of our blood supply.
As schools and workplaces transitioned to remote access, blood centers could not use blood drives, which counts for a large portion of the blood collected across the U.S. This dramatic decrease in blood availability coincided with a surge in demand for COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma (CCP). This was a completely new product that blood centers had to master quickly, learning how to efficiently collect, process, test and distribute these CCP units to the hospital blood banks that direly needed it.
Blood donations are crucial
Miriam Halpenny / Jan 22 2021
Canadian Blood Service’s Week to Save Lives encourages people to donate blood
Canadian Blood Services (CBS) has partnered with Canada Life for the Canada Life Week to Save Lives, encouraging Canadians to donate blood in their communities, including Kelowna.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, CBS is emphasizing the importance of donating blood to help ensure blood and blood products are available to those who need it.
Cerus Corporation Announces Preliminary Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2020 Product Revenue
Jessica Hanover / Jan 11 2021
CONCORD, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Cerus Corporation (Nasdaq: CERS) announced today preliminary product revenue for the fourth quarter and full year 2020 and provided 2021 product revenue guidance.
Cerus’ unaudited preliminary product revenue for the fourth quarter of 2020 totaled $28.2 million, an increase of 35% over the $20.9 million recognized during the same period in the prior year. Based on its fourth quarter unaudited preliminary product revenue, the Company expects full year 2020 product revenue of $91.9 million, exceeding the Company’s current 2020 product guidance range of $89 million to $91 million.
National Blood Donor Month highlights constant need for donations
Ben Sefarbi / Jan 11 2021
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) – The Rock River Valley Blood Center has joined other centers across the country in recognizing National Blood Donor Month.
This comes during a national blood shortage and global pandemic. Blood transfusions are the most frequent procedure performed in hospitals, with more than 33,000 daily donations required to meet patient needs in the U.S., according to ADRP, an international division of America’s Blood Centers.
With supply short during pandemic, online blood donor lists are helping
Krupa Joseph, DHNS , Bengaluru / Dec 12 2020
Social media has become a tool for people to find almost anything — books, second furniture and now, even blood donors. If the numerous Whatsapp forwards and posts on Instagram and Facebook asking for people to step up and donate is a clue, there is a certain gap in the need for donors and their availability. In a bid to bridge this gap, several online platforms have come forward to create a database of donors.
India Must Address The Issue Of Access To Safe Blood On Priority
Amar Patnaik / Dec 5 2020
Blood donor base has shrunk owing to cancellation of blood donation drives because crowding fears over Covid-19 and lack of mobility and motivation in general.
The novel SARS-CoV-2 virus (Covid-19) has been causing havoc in India as well as around the globe and it has caused an unprecedented number of fatalities alongside inflicting enormous pain on the economy.
The Pandemic Is Pushing Blood Supplies to the Brink
By Alexander Indrikovs, M.D. /
The COVID-19 pandemic has left blood supplies dangerously low, prompting a need for donors.
THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC has upended life as we know it, curbing interactions with family and friends, canceling travel plans, shifting work locations and adjusting our health priorities.
But as the novel coronavirus continues to sweep across the nation, it’s having another serious side effect many may not have thought of: a drastic decrease in blood donations.
Tech groups, nonprofits accelerate plans to tackle global blood shortage
Catherine Cheney / Jun 25 2020
SAN FRANCISCO — Fears of infection from COVID-19 have prevented people all over the world from donating blood, worsening the global blood shortage.
As schools, churches, and other mainstays of national collection programs have shut down in low- and middle-income countries, so too have blood drives, while restrictions on mobility have made it harder to store and transport already limited stocks.
The Long Quest To Create Artificial Blood May Soon Be Over
By Katharine Gammon
Blood, blood everywhere — but not a drop when you need it. In the U.S. alone, there are around 17,000 preventable trauma deaths each year due to untreated hemorrhagic shock. Basically, that means someone loses a fatal amount of blood before they can reach the hospital more than 46 times per day.
HEAMGEN / GIOSTAR News
SAASCR Honors 10 Indian American Scientists for Their Outstanding Cancer Research
Highlighted mention of Anand Srivastava:
GIOSTAR: Healing Human Beings for a Better Life
Prime Insights – Jan 9 2021
Dr Anand Srivastava is the father of stem cell science who started his ground-breaking research on in the field of stem cell science and regenerative medicines. Thus, he co-founded GIOSTAR with Mr Deven Patel who is also the President of the same. Together they embarked on the toughest journey to eradicate human sufferings of all people from devastating diseases. Global Institute of Stem Cell Therapy (GIOSTAR) is a hardcore researched based institute with a vision to provide stem cell-based therapies at an affordable rates around the globe to people who are suffering from degenerative or genetic diseases and are unable to afford today’s high costs of treatment. It had been established in 2008 but they are involved in stem cell research since 2000.
HEAMGEN on Twitter
@heamgen
HEAMGEN – patented, disruptive technology to manufacture O-negative Red Blood Cells (RBCs) from Stem Cells. Make the global blood supply chain more resilient.
HEAMGEN, Inc
Biotechnology / San Diego, California
HEAMGEN, Inc. – a spin out of Giostar Inc. – has developed a patented, disruptive technology to manufacture O-negative Red Blood Cells (RBCs) from Stem Cells. This technology will ensure the blood supply chain resiliency in that blood and blood products remain safe and available for patients, both in the military community and the civilian medical sphere, especially in terms of sourcing, storage and distribution.
Scientific journal Current Medicinal Chemistry dedicates front page to GIOSTAR – photo is taken from GIOSTAR publication explaining liver cirrhosis, a related mechanism using stem cells.
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