FDA Licenses 15 New Blood Typing Tests - Tests Help Ensure Safe Blood

(www.news.mayoclinic.com)The U.S. Food and Drug Administration licensed 15 new blood typing tests that were previously unavailable in the United States.These tests, known as blood grouping reagents, are used to determine the blood type of blood donors, an essential step in ensuring safe blood transfusion for patients. If mismatched blood is administered to a patient, it may cause a serious and potentially fatal reaction. Less than a quarter of countries have achieved 100 per cent voluntary blood donation. Many countries still depend to varying degrees on blood donation by the friends or family of a patient needing transfusion and, in some countries, some donors are still paid to give blood.
Hundreds of thousands of people each year

receive blood components or blood products following accidents,

during surgery or for cancer treatments, burn therapy, haemophilia

and other blood-related diseases.