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Extracorporeal devices
Published in Ronald L. Fournier, Basic Transport Phenomena in Biomedical Engineering, 2017
The fetus’s bilirubin readily crosses the placenta and is removed by the mother’s liver. However, in the period after birth, the infant’s liver is not fully functional for the first week, resulting in increased levels of plasma bilirubin. In some cases, the infant’s bilirubin levels are sufficiently high, resulting in a jaundiced (yellow) appearance to the skin. High levels of plasma bilirubin can be toxic to a variety of tissues, and in these cases jaundiced infants are commonly treated by phototherapy or blood transfusions. In phototherapy, the infant is placed under a blue light that converts the bilirubin to a less toxic by-product. Phototherapy through the skin is not capable of controlling cases of severe jaundice. However, blood transfusions can replace the infant’s blood with adult blood, effectively diluting the infant’s plasma bilirubin levels. However, blood transfusions pose their own risk, particularly infectious diseases such as hepatitis and HIV.
Blood scarcity at the blood banks during COVID-19 pandemic and strategies to promote blood donations: current knowledge and futuristic vision
Published in Egyptian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 2021
Ranjit Sah, Alfonso J. Rodriguez-Morales, Zareena Fathah, Sunil Shrestha, Rachana Mehta, Asmita Priyadarshini Khatiwada, Ruchi Tiwari, Khan Sharun, Ranjan K Mohapatra, Manish Dhawan, Talha Bin Emran, Kuldeep Dhama
Amidst the chaos of COVID-19, the focus and the human resources have been mobilized mainly to contain and manage the health problems associated with COVID-19. However, the areas such as blood donation have been given less attention comparatively. Also, in the lack of appropriate blood collection facilities (mobile blood donation), clear tailored guidelines, and stringent measures for screening SARS-CoV-2 in volunteer blood donation or mass donation campaigns, people have hardly participated in such programs. The scenario seems to be expected, especially in the resource-limiting countries where COVID-19 testing is very costly and not affordable by the general population in the early and mid-phase of the pandemic. That has resulted in the scarcity of the blood supply in the blood banks, which has primarily affected many aspects of medical surgery, emergency, and regular treatments requiring blood, such as in thalassemia [4]. Moreover, blood transfusion is routinely needed in medical procedures to replace blood losses during surgery, injury, obstetrics and other operations as a life-saving option. In such situations, NGOs, INGOs, and developed countries may aid the less developed and marginalized countries worldwide for promoting blood donation campaigns.