NHS to match blood genetically for people with sickle cell and thalassemia in England

The NHS in England will soon introduce a new genetic blood matching test for people with sickle cell disease or thalassemia to match transfusions to patients better and reduce painful side effects.Although blood is currently matched by blood group, differences within blood groups can trigger immune responses to transfused blood cells in just under a fifth (17%) of patients, leading to side effects.To reduce these reactions, NHS England has announced around £1m in funding for NHS Blood and Transplant to provide blood group genotyping as part of its specialised molecular diagnostics laboratory. A donor database will now be developed to match patients with more suitable blood. The NHS will be the first healthcare system to provide this service.Sickle cell disease is particularly common in people of black African and Caribbean heritage, with around 17 000 people living with the disease in England and 250 new cases a year. Thalassemia mainly…
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