The annual event helps to raise awareness for this life-saving procedure.
September 17th, 2024 marks the 5th Anniversary of Apheresis Awareness Day, commemorating the donors, patients, apheresis practitioners, and study of apheresis medicine. Established in 2020 by the American Society for Apheresis (ASFA), the event boosts awareness for this lifesaving procedure.
What is Apheresis?
Apheresis is the process of procuring red blood cells, white blood cells, plasma, or platelets from a donor or a patient. Typically, a centrifuge machine draws blood from the body, spins it to separate out its various components, retains specific components, and returns any remaining blood components to the donor or patient's body.
The process is crucial in treating a wide variety of conditions, including blood cancers (e.g. leukemia and lymphoma), blood disorders (e.g. sickle cell anemia), and neurologic disorders (e.g. multiple sclerosis).
Apheresis can be classified depending on treatment types. Leukapheresis is utilized to remove white blood cells. Photopheresis removes white blood cells, combines them with a photoactive drug, and exposes them to ultraviolet light to fight off cancer and other disorders. If a patient has an excess of platelets in their bloodstream, Plateletpheresis can remove excessive amounts to reduce the risk of stroke and heart attack.
You may also be interested in: United States Industry Consensus Standard for the Uniform Labeling of Blood and Blood Components Using ISBT 128
ISBT 128, Tracking and Traceability
Apheresis donations can be made in a variety of locations, most commonly in blood donor centers and mobile blood drives. Once collected, donations at facilities registered with ICCBBA are assigned a globally unique donation identification number and internationally standardized product codes that accurately reflect the characteristics of the components collected. This supports tracking and traceability of apheresis donations to the benefit of donors and patients worldwide.
Learn more about ISBT 128:
Happy Apheresis Awareness Day!
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About ICCBBA:
ICCBBA is the nonprofit international standards organization responsible for the development and management of the ISBT 128 Standard.
The acronym ISBT was originally derived from the important role played by the International Society of Blood Transfusion in the development of the Standard. Today it expands as Information Standard for Blood and Transplantation. The number 128 reflects the 128 characters of the ISO/IEC 646 7-bit character set.
The acronym ICCBBA is derived from the International Council for Commonality in Blood Banking Automation.
For More Information About ICCBBA:
Media Contact: Christina Salinas
Email: support@isbt128.org
Author
Creative Services Coordinator, ICCBBA
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