Blood transfusions for the treatment of sickle cell anemia can be done in 3 ways.
Blood transfusions for the treatment of sickle cell anemia can be done in 3 ways.
Each of these 3 methods have advantages and disadvantages and are suitable for different reasons.
Transfusions are most often given to patients who have had a stroke or are at high risk of having one. They may also be given to patients in severe crisis, such as acute chest syndrome, or if the patient is very ill and needs to be admitted to the intensive care unit. The patient may need a transfusion if they are very anemic (aplastic crisis), which is usually related to a viral infection (cough or cold). Transfusion may be appropriate if the patient is pregnant and experiencing complications, or if the patient is having major surgery.
Compatible phenotypic blood means that blood has been matched as closely as possible to the patient’s blood type. This reduces the risk of a transfusion reaction and the development of an antibody. However, since most blood donors have different ethnic backgrounds from patients with sickle cell disease, the compatible blood supply is limited.
Canadian Blood Services (CBS) and Héma-Québec would like to have more donors coming from ethnic minority groups. If you have friends or family members who want to help people with sickle cell disease, becoming a blood donor is a very practical, helpful and rewarding way to help. If you would like to organize a blood drive or session, Héma-Québec and CBS can help you do so. However, you cannot donate blood if you have sickle cell disease.
According to Canadian Blood Services, people who were born or have lived in certain countries in Central and West Africa since 1977 may have been exposed to a new strain of the virus that causes AIDS (Group O HIV-1) and are not eligible to donate blood. People who have had a blood transfusion during a visit to those countries or who have had sex with someone who has lived there are also not allowed to give blood. This is not based on race or ethnicity, but on potential exposure to HIV-1 from Group O. These countries are Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Niger and Nigeria.
The majority of blood donors are Caucasian, while a large number of people with sickle cell disease in Canada are from the African countries listed above. Many patients with sickle cell anemia require continuous blood transfusions and require phenotype blood from their genetic community.
The difference in antigens between Caucasians and African Canadians results in antibody formation that makes it impossible to locate compatible red blood cells. When treating people with sickle cell anemia, it is no longer sufficient to give them blood transfusions corresponding only to the blood groups. Indeed, research has shown that transfusion-related complications are greatly reduced when blood of a compatible phenotype is given to these patients.
Due to the indefinite deferral policy, it is increasingly difficult to collect phenotyped blood.
The good news :
We are pleased to announce that Health Canada has eased the permanent exclusion policy to a 12-month restriction period for individuals who have lived or visited the African countries in question. SCDAC continues to work on the clause regarding spouses/sexual partners of these donors.
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SCDAC/AAFC
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