From Central Office
Vox Sanguinis highlights
Fresh from the press
S. F. Fustolo-Gunnink
Article Highlights:
- Clinical transfusion research often involves investigating complex systems.
- Complexity science methods can help us to better understand these systems.
- Complexity science highlights the unpredictability of complex systems, the need for scientific humility and acceptance of uncertainty.
First published: 14 April 2026
Jeremy W. Jacobs, Nabajyoti Choudhury, Satyam Arora, Aikaj Jindal, Nidhi Bhatnagar, Abhishekh Basavarajegowda, Shamee Shastry, Tulika Chandra, David Daniel, Steven J. Drews, Evan M. Bloch
Article Highlights:
- Near-universal malaria screening is in place across surveyed Indian blood centres, dominated by antigen rapid diagnostic tests.
- Although the reported transfusion-transmitted malaria is rare, Plasmodium reactivity in donors increased substantially from 2020 to 2024.
- A major vulnerability is quality systems and haemovigilance, as less than half of facilities participated in external quality assessment and only one-third performed lookback investigations.
First published: 30 March 2026
Joyisa Deb, Aswin K. Mohan, Suhasini Sil, Suvro Sankha Datta, Yoghini Nagandran, Manideepa Maji, Mohammad Kamrul Hassan Majumder, Saikat Mandal
Article Highlights:
- Excessive iron levels may increase susceptibility to infections as per literature review, but the evidence remains inconclusive due to confounding factors.
- Emerging strategies to reduce infection risk include using intravenous (IV) iron formulations with lower labile iron content and exploring the role of lactoferrin, iron chelators, nanoparticles and hepcidin mimetics as potential therapeutic options.
- Well-powered multicentric controlled clinical trials in various clinical populations are needed to define the safest approaches.
First published: 25 March 2026
Amin T. Turki, Christian Martin Brieske, Umut A. Gurkan, Katja M. Scheidler, O. Berk Usta, Esa Turkulainen, Kamyar Arzideh, Christian Temme, René Hosch, Peter A. Horn, Mikko Arvas
Article Highlights:
- Transfusion medicine is silently becoming a big data discipline with substantial potential for artificial intelligence methods and applications.
- This transformation requires post-graduate education in the relevant principles for clinical application.
- The synergy of precision red blood cell diagnostics (e.g., via ‘lab-on-a chip’) and harmonized electronic health record data for personalized blood transfusions is substantial.
First published: 23 March 2026
