Study uncovers placental microtransfusions lead to transmission of AIDS virus during childbirth
Transmission of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, from pregnant women to their infants sometime during childbirth is a huge international problem, studies have shown. Between 25 percent and 35 percent of babies born to untreated HIV-infected mothers become infected themselves. That's a half million newborn worldwide every year facing chronic illness and premature death on their first day ou...Better assessment of transfusions could save blood
Nearly 95 percent of patients admitted to hospital intensive care units are affected by anemia. Consequently, these patients receive a large number of red blood cell (RBC) transfusions in order to restore proper hemoglobin levels. New research shows that alternative treatments may lead to fewer transfusions, conserving critical blood supplies in hospitals. The report is published in Seminars in D...Blood transfusions beneficial after heart attacks
Doctors can save the lives of many elderly heart attack victims by quickly giving blood transfusions to those who have even mild anemia, a U.S. study found. Researchers said this advice, if widely adopted, could save thousands of people each year. Taking care of anemia is probably as important as giving aspirin, beta blockers or clot-dissolving drugs, which are already standard care for h...Alternative to blood Transfusions
According to a new study, a new drug may lower the need for blood transfusions in surgical patients with acute anemia. The new drug, polymerized bovine hemoglobin (HBOC-201),// is delivered intravenously and supplies oxygen to the blood of the recipient. The structure of the HBOC-201 is smaller and more mobile than blood cells, therefore allowing the HBOC-201 molecules to effectively dist...Need for Blood Transfusions reduced
The need for blood transfusions among critically ill patients may now be reduced by a new substance. A study showed that patients in intensive care with a lowered need for transfusion were the ones who had received weekly administration //of the man-made protein. Researchers examined the effectiveness of a substance called recombinant human erythropoietin, or rHuEPO, that stimulates th...West Nile and Blood Transfusions
A new study shows blood transfusions may have played a role in the spread of the West Nile virus during the 2002 epidemic in the United States. Researchers interviewed individuals who donated their blood to patients infected with the West Nile virus. //They asked the participants whether they had symptoms of a viral illness before or after donating the blood. Researchers also tested blood...Mad Cow Disease Might Be Linked to Blood Transfusions
The human disease believed to be caused by eating beef from cattle with mad cow disease may also be // caused by blood transfusions from infected individuals, say researchers according to a recent study. In two studies, investigators outline the possibility that the variant form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), which has been linked to a prion protein found in cattle with bovine spon...