Fueling hope, drop by drop. It is a mission, to collect the fuel for the humans and it must be celebrated. The World Blood Donor Day is held on June 14. It was first celebrated in 2004 on the birthday anniversary of Karl Landsteiner, who won the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the ABO blood group system. This day was organized by the four core international organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products, and to honor those who selflessly gift the essence of life.
There are four main blood groups defined by the ABO system and they are A, B, AB and O. Receiving blood from the wrong ABO group can be life threatening and can cause death. This is why group A blood must never be given to someone who has group B blood and vice versa. There is another system called the Rh system. According to that the red blood cells sometimes have another antigen, a protein known as the RhD antigen. If this is present, your blood group is RhD-positive. If it’s absent, your blood group is RhD-negative. This means you can be 1 of 8 blood groups: A+, A-, B+, B-, O+, O-, AB+, AB-.
Blood donors with type AB+ (AB positive) are referred to as universal recipients and can receive red blood cells from any other blood types. O- (O negative) donors are often said to be ‘Universal’, meaning that their blood can be given to anyone safely in an emergency. That’s why ambulances carry it on board.
Scientists have found that red blood cells can be grown in labs too. Yvonne Smith who is 69 years old, became one of the first two people to receive lab grown red-blood cells in the world leading trial. This is the first time in the world that red blood cells that had been grown in a laboratory have been given to another person in a blood transfusion. The trial marks the initial phase in making lab-grown red blood cells accessible for clinical use. For the foreseeable future, manufactured cells could only be used for a very small number of patients with very complex transfusion needs. Therefore NHSBT (NHS Blood and Transplant) continues to rely on the generosity of donors.
There’s this scarlet thread of blood running through the colorless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it… There are mothers, babies, soldiers and many more patients who need blood right now, right at the moment you are reading this. May all necessities have been fulfilled, bringing hope to every heart. We must not stop. No one knows when the disasters will strike. Donate blood whenever you can because, your blood will be someone’s second chance.
Written By: Venuri Kinara
References:
- https://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/news/one-of-the-first-people-to-have-a-transfusion-of-lab-grown-red-blood-cells-says-why-wouldn-t-you-do-it/#:~:text=The%20lab%2Dgrown%20blood%20cells,as%20a%20future%20clinical%20product.
- https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/blood-groups/#:~:text=There%20are%204%20main%20blood%20groups%20defined%20by%20the%20ABO,B%20antibodies%20in%20the%20plasma
- https://www.vinmec.com/en/news/health-news/what-happens-when-the-wrong-blood-type-is-transfused/#:~:text=Transfusion%20The%20wrong%20blood%20type,the%20patient%20to%20die%20quickly.
- https://www.blood.co.uk/news-and-campaigns/the-donor/latest-stories/what-makes-o-negative-universal/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Blood_Donor_Day
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