"Blood transfusion is a life-saving intervention that has an essential role in patient management within health care systems. All Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) endorsed World Health Assembly resolutions WHA28.72 (1) in 1975 and WHA58.13 (2) in 2005. These commit them to the provision of adequate supplies of safe blood and blood products that are accessible to all patients who require transfusion either to save their lives or promote their continuing or improving health." --Preface.

During the early years of the AIDS epidemic, thousands of Americans became infected with HIV through the nation's blood supply. Because little reliable information existed at the time AIDS first began showing up in hemophiliacs and in others who had received transfusions, experts disagreed about whether blood and blood products could transmit the disease. During this period of great uncertainty, decision-making regarding the blood supply became increasingly difficult and fraught with risk. This volume provides a balanced inquiry into the blood safety controversy, which involves private sexual practices, personal tragedy for the victims of HIV/AIDS, and public confidence in America's blood services system. The book focuses on critical decisions as information about the danger to the blood supply emerged. The committee draws conclusions about what was doneâ€"and recommends what should be done to produce better outcomes in the face of future threats to blood safety. The committee frames its analysis around four critical area: Product treatmentâ€"Could effective methods for inactivating HIV in blood have been introduced sooner? Donor screening and referralâ€"including a review of screening to exlude high-risk individuals. Regulations and recall of contaminated bloodâ€"analyzing decisions by federal agencies and the private sector. Risk communicationâ€"examining whether infections could have been averted by better communication of the risks.

Individuals who donate their blood provide a unique and precious gift in an act of human solidarity. In order to donate blood, prospective donors should be in good health and free from any infections that can be transmitted through transfusion. Most blood donors perceive themselves to be healthy, but some are unsuitable to donate blood due to the potential risk of compromising or worsening their own health or the risk of transmission of infections to patients. Blood transfusion services (BTS) have a duty of care towards blood donors as well as to the recipients of transfusion. This duty of care extends to prospective donors who are deferred from donation--whether on a temporary or permanent basis--as well as those who donate blood and are subsequently found to have unusual or abnormal test results. BTS have a responsibility to confirm test results and provide information, counseling and support to enable these individuals to understand and respond to unexpected information about their health or risk status. Counseling is part of the spectrum of care that a BTS should be able to provide to blood donors--including referral to medical practitioners or specialist clinical services. Pre-donation counseling was recognized as one element of the strategy to reduce and, if possible, prevent the donation of blood by individuals who might be at risk for HIV and other TTI including hepatitis B and C viruses as well as to inform the donor of the donation process and testing of blood for HIV. Post-donation counseling was acknowledged to be a necessary element of donor management as an adjunct to informing donors of unusual or abnormal test results. Blood donor counseling by trained specialist staff is now considered to be a key component of the blood system in most countries with a well-developed blood transfusion service. It may be required at a number of stages in the blood donation process or following blood screening and should be available at any point at which the BTS has an interface with donors. In many countries, however, blood donor counseling is not yet available in a structured way. Blood Donor Counselling: Implementation Guidelines has therefore been developed to provide guidance to blood transfusion services that have not yet established donor counseling programs.

The WHO guidelines on assessing donor suitability for blood donation have been developed to assist blood transfusion services in countries that are establishing or strengthening national systems for the selection of blood donors. They are designed for use by policy makers in national blood programmes in ministries of health, national advisory bodies such as national blood commissions or councils, and blood transfusion services.

This volume discusses the current state of the nation's blood supply--including studies of blood availability, ways of enhancing blood collection and distribution, frozen red cell technology, logistical concerns in prepositioning frozen blood, extended liquid storage of red cells, and blood substitutes.

The seventh edition of the Canadian Immunization Guide was developed by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), with the support ofthe Immunization and Respiratory Infections Division, Public Health Agency of Canada, to provide updated information and recommendations on the use of vaccines in Canada. The Public Health Agency of Canada conducted a survey in 2004, which confi rmed that the Canadian Immunization Guide is a very useful and reliable resource of information on immunization.

The second edition of Transfusion Medicine and Hemostasis continues to be the only "pocket-size" quick reference for pathology residents and transfusion medicine fellows. It covers all topics in blood banking, transfusion medicine, and clinical and laboratory based coagulation. Short, focused chapters, organized by multiple hierarchical headings, are supplemented with up to 10 suggested reading citations. This single reference covers essentially all the topics required to meet the goals and objectives of a major program in transfusion medicine and clinical coagulation. New chapters in the coagulation testing section reflect the development of new tests available and their incorporation into clinical practice. Coverage includes essential updates on the importance of new cellular therapies, peripheral blood and bone marrow hematopoietic progenitor cells, as well as cord blood banking and regenerative medicine. The authors also examine advances in the understanding of molecular testing and pathogen reduction in two separate quality control chapters (one for blood centers and one for hospitals). - Updated content covers new coagulation tests, cellular therapies, and quality control issues - Easy to use, with focused, well-defined chapters in a standardized format throughout - Offers quick "cross-reference" lists at the end of each chapter - Includes lists of common abbreviations and indexes that cross reference diagnostic, clinical and therapeutic commonalities

New emerging diseases, new diagnostic modalities for resource-poor settings, new vaccine schedules ... all significant, recent developments in the fast-changing field of tropical medicine. Hunter's Tropical Medicine and Emerging Infectious Diseases, 10th Edition, keeps you up to date with everything from infectious diseases and environmental issues through poisoning and toxicology, animal injuries, and nutritional and micronutrient deficiencies that result from traveling to tropical or subtropical regions. This comprehensive resource provides authoritative clinical guidance, useful statistics, and chapters covering organs, skills, and services, as well as traditional pathogen-based content. You'll get a full understanding of how to recognize and treat these unique health issues, no matter how widespread or difficult to control. - Includes important updates on malaria, leishmaniasis, tuberculosis and HIV, as well as coverage of Ebola, Zika virus, Chikungunya, and other emerging pathogens. - Provides new vaccine schedules and information on implementation. - Features five all-new chapters: Neglected Tropical Diseases: Public Health Control Programs and Mass Drug Administration; Health System and Health Care Delivery; Zika; Medical Entomology; and Vector Control – as well as 250 new images throughout. - Presents the common characteristics and methods of transmission for each tropical disease, as well as the applicable diagnosis, treatment, control, and disease prevention techniques. - Contains skills-based chapters such as dentistry, neonatal pediatrics and ICMI, and surgery in the tropics, and service-based chapters such as transfusion in resource-poor settings, microbiology, and imaging. - Discusses maladies such as delusional parasitosis that are often seen in returning travelers, including those making international adoptions, transplant patients, medical tourists, and more. - Enhanced eBook version included with purchase, which allows you to access all of the text, figures, and references from the book on a variety of devices.

The book covers the basics of genetics and immunology, technical aspects of blood banking and transfusion.It offers a concise, and practical approach for different blood tests and guidelines on the best ways to take donor history, screen donors, store blood components, ensure safety, and anticipate the potentially adverse effects of blood transfusion, components and its management at the bedside. Different chapters include important topics such as collection, storage and transportation of blood, introduction to blood transfusion, blood group serology, discovery of blood groups, donor selection, interview, and its preparation, and storage, pretransfusion testing, transfusion therapy, clinical considerations, and safety, quality assurance, and data management developed specifically for medical technologists and resident doctors. The book also goes beyond preoperative patient blood management, with detailed accounts of coagulation disorder management and the administration of coagulation products and platelet concentrates. The book also defines the components of a learning health system necessary to enable continued improvement in trauma care in both the civilian and the military sectors. This book offers a succinct and user-friendly resource with key points, boxes, tables & charts and is a quick reference guide for pathology and transfusion medicine residents and doctors in blood centers and hospitals dealing with regulatory aspects, transfusion safety, production and storage and donor care.