MediLexicon, June 27, 2007
A potentially dangerous imbalance in the blood supply could deplete available stock of O-positive blood. It is linked to a variance between the number of Type O donations and the increasing number of transfusions, primarily within Hispanic populations, which are predominantly O-positive. The concern was discussed in a recent summit for blood and cellular therapy executives.
"There is a significant imbalance between Type O-positive patients and donors, especially in Texas, California and other states with large Hispanic populations," said Alexander Indrikovs, MD, associate professor of pathology and clinical laboratory sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch. "For example, seventy-one percent of blood donors at a large collection center in Mexico City have Type O-positive blood, compared to 47 percent of Caucasians. As a result, there is increasing pressure on the supplies of O-positive blood because the donor rate among Hispanics is very low," he told the Mediware summit. Participants, including executives from Johns Hopkins, Georgetown University, New York University, the University of California, and other prestigious institutions, responded to the call by discussing methods to increase donor recruitment efforts among Hispanics to address the imbalance. http://www.medilexicon.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=75332