Request for O Negative blood

[Fortunate1]

An Englishman, Mr Leslie Holmes, is currently in Lanna Hosipital Chiang Mai and in need of kidney surgery however there may be a delay due to a lack of O Neg blood.

If anyone is able to assist by donating O Neg blood it would be much appreciated.

Regards,

Fortunate1

[Dodobird]

Hang on Leslie, help is on the way ...

[Fortunate1]

Many thanks Dodobird!

[tomdfc]

My other half can help, but she is petite and has mentioned the fact that in the UK there was apparently an 8 stone threshold which meant that she was only ever asked to donate half a pint at a time. Not sure what the situation is here. We can get over there this evening or sooner if needed immediately.

[Fortunate1]

tomdfc I have juat checked here at Lanna and they recommend you go to donate at the Red Cross centre behind Yupparaj School and also provide the full name: Leslie James Holmes at Lanna Hospital. Red Cross will forward the blood to Lanna Hospital.

Many thanks to you and your wife for your assistance as even half a unit can make the difference.

[Thighlander]

will O+ work?

[Fortunate1]

Thighlander I'm afraid it has to be O Neg. O Pos is not compatible.

Many thanks for your offer.

Regards,

[tomdfc]

tomdfc I have juat checked here at Lanna and they recommend you go to donate at the Red Cross centre behind Yupparaj School and also provide the full name: Leslie James Holmes at Lanna Hospital. Red Cross will forward the blood to Lanna Hospital.

Many thanks to you and your wife for your assistance as even half a unit can make the difference.

Just back from the Red Cross but not good news I'm sorry to say. In approximate order -

You're too old to give blood (My wife's 59)

Seemed strange but explained the reason for our visit, quoting the above info, and effectively indicating that there was an O negative potential donor trying to do the decent thing

Hesitation, conferring and some questions about past donor visits etc (none in Chiang Mai) - Have you had lunch? - No, not a big eater - You must eat and come back in 30 minutes - OK

Two lunches later and having filled out the long questionnaire, we asked the significance of the only question to which we could not give the "correct" answer - "Have you lived in England UK for more than 6 months between 1980 and 1996?".

(Technically we could have said "No" (we're Scots) but assuming the key point to have been the UK aspect said "Yes", without being able to guess what that had to do with anything.) Answer -

"We can't test for SARS."

We tried to explain / question - SARS wasn't around then - it was 2002/3. Nor was it specific to the UK.

(We knew they didn't mean HIV or Aids because that was covered in another question.)

And we simply couldn't break through this impasse. So, very sorry, no donation could be given. (And we met Mr Homes' nephew, coincidentally, when we were there as this blocker was being discussed.)

Besides the concerns of your friend, it seems that this is a serious problem. Our understanding is that -

The Red Cross does not want blood from older people.

The Red Cross will not take blood from anyone over 60 without a medical certificate.

The Red Cross will not take blood from anyone over 70.

(And there may well be good reason for all of the above.)

O negative is a relatively rare blood type in the West (about 6 or 7% for the UK)

It is virtually unknown in Thailand or SE Asia.

Most concerningly, while some blood-types can receive transfusions from other blood types, this does NOT apply to O negative.

In sum -

the O negative blood database in Thailand is coming from a foreign population whose age profile is presumably very old on average and which by virtue of this fact is not able to be tapped into (forgive the pun), perhaps further compromised by a misunderstanding on the donor screening questionnaire.

I hope this is not too alarmist, for yourself or others. I stress that it's very hard to be sure about much of the above and I may well be wrong about some of it. I did ask a question about this general situation at at CEC meeting once and a medical person gave some reassurance about synthetic blood types being available - but I really don't know if this meant generally available or in development. All I know is that the risk factor for those with O negative blood is a cause for concern for us until we can better understand the situation. Maybe others can advise? Is there a CEC blood-type group database? Etc.

[Tywais]

tomdfc I have juat checked here at Lanna and they recommend you go to donate at the Red Cross centre behind Yupparaj School and also provide the full name: Leslie James Holmes at Lanna Hospital. Red Cross will forward the blood to Lanna Hospital.

Many thanks to you and your wife for your assistance as even half a unit can make the difference.

Just back from the Red Cross but not good news I'm sorry to say. In approximate order -

It is virtually unknown in Thailand or SE Asia.

It is .3% for Asians so limits the donor availability significantly here.

[cmsally]

The 1980-1996 thing is to do with Mad Cow Disease.

If it still applied in the UK presumably a huge swathe of the population could not give blood. I think they just reject the people with relations that have had the disease( - which is not that many).

[Fortunate1]

tomdfc, I very much appreciate your efforts and regret your loss of time today. In spite of an incredible response from Facebook and here on Thai Visa it looks like there will be a shortfall. However it appears that some O Neg can be purchased from Samitivej Hospital in Bangkok to make up for this.

Tywais, many thanks for your valued input as always.

Regards,

[realthaideal]

Did you try this Expat Blood Group on Facebook yet ? It doesn't look like you have. Perhaps you can still get local blood. Good luck to your friend !

EX-pats in Chiang Mai, Blood Type - https://www.facebook.com/groups/324344183473/

[thepool]

Should anyone care to check with a Heamatologist it will be discovered that this man can receive Group "O" + blood without risk providing there is no previous transfusion history or other complicating factors

[Tywais]

Should anyone care to check with a Heamatologist it will be discovered that this man can receive Group "O" + blood without risk providing there is no previous transfusion history or other complicating factors

That is incorrect. O- can only receive from O-. O- is the universal donor type and can donate to any other group.

[Fortunate1]

Did you try this Expat Blood Group on Facebook yet ? It doesn't look like you have. Perhaps you can still get local blood. Good luck to your friend !

EX-pats in Chiang Mai, Blood Type - https://www.facebook.com/groups/324344183473/

This is very helpful information and thanks for giving me a new lead on this.

There may be sufficient at Lanna already and it will be analysed for suitability this afternoon.

Many thanks,

[northernjohn]

Did you try this Expat Blood Group on Facebook yet ? It doesn't look like you have. Perhaps you can still get local blood. Good luck to your friend !

EX-pats in Chiang Mai, Blood Type - https://www.facebook.com/groups/324344183473/

This is very helpful information and thanks for giving me a new lead on this.

There may be sufficient at Lanna already and it will be analysed for suitability this afternoon.

Many thanks,

It took them 6 days to get it for me and one liter had to come from Bangkok. I am type O- but 72 years old.

[Fortunate1]

Lanna hospital now have two units which is sufficient to perform the operation.

I would like to thank all who contributed to this topic.

The Thai Visa forum is very helpful in so many different ways.

Thank you all.