Blood, Immune System Cells in the Blood & Transfusions
Disclaimer: All of these primers are written by parents that have NO medical background prior to having to deal directly with the disease. The contents should not be misinterpreted as medical advice. Our opinions could be wrong. The intent is to help you come up the learning curve and hopefully bypass some of the difficulties we have encountered. Always refer to your doctor. Like almost all things in life, there are MANY correct answers.More to come soon....
Transfusion Information
Most transfusions for children should be filtered, and for chemo patients they do irradiate and leuko-reduce, and check for CMV.Irradiation of Blood: irradiation is a special process to remove t-lymphocytes that can cause graft verses host disease in immunocompromised or immunodeficient patients (chemo patients, bone-marrow or organ transplant recepients, or premature infants). Irradiation is done on packed red blood cells, and platelets, and fresh frozen plasma.
Leukocyte Reduction: this is ordered for patients receiving frequent transfusions since they can develop antibodies to the antigens from the DONOR leukocytes and or platelets. It helps prevent febrile reactions and refractoriness (or the patient's lack of response to the transfusion). This is ordered for the immunocompromised patient getting packed red blood cells or platelets. This can be done in the lab, or by using a bedside leukocyte reduction filter. Look for the hospital's policy on the leukocyte reduction requirements.
CMV testing: CMV is carried on leukocytes in the blood product, and 1/2 of all donors are CMV positive. Blood filtering is ordered, since leukocyte reduction of red blood cells and platelets reduces the incidence of CMV transmission. CMV (cytomegaly virus) infection can cause fever, hepatitis, pneumonia, brain damage, and even death.
Other Tests: Tests are done on blood for the following diseases - Syphilis, Hepatitis B and C, HTLV I ( a potential leukemia virus), AIDS virus, HIV I and HIV 2.