{"id":98096,"date":"2025-08-21T00:48:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T00:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/98096\/"},"modified":"2025-08-21T00:48:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T00:48:14","slug":"blood-matching-test-to-be-offered-to-patients-with-rare-conditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/98096\/","title":{"rendered":"Blood matching test to be offered to patients with rare conditions"},"content":{"rendered":"

About 300 people will be eligible for the test, which uses genetics to get detailed blood group information.<\/p>\n

The health service has launched a personalised \u201cblood matching\u201d test for people with rare conditions who require regular blood transfusions.<\/p>\n

The move will allow donor blood to be matched to these patients more closely, to reduce the risk of severe reactions.<\/p>\n

The new test uses genetics to generate detailed blood group information.<\/p>\n

It is the first time it has been used for patients with rare inherited anaemias \u2013 with around 300 people eligible for testing, according to NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT).<\/p>\n

The programme has been backed by the family of toddler Woody Mayers, aged 22 months, who has a rare inherited anaemia called congenital dyserythropoietic anaemia (CDA) type 1.<\/p>\n

The condition causes the bone marrow to struggle to produce healthy red blood cells, which carry oxygen around the body.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/Woody Mayers, now 22 months, was born with an extremely rare blood disorder (NHSBT\/Family handout)<\/p>\n

It is estimated to affect between one to five out of every million babies.<\/p>\n

Patients have low haemoglobin levels, meaning Woody relies on blood transfusions every four weeks to stay alive.<\/p>\n

However, the donor blood must be carefully matched to reduce the risk of patient\u2019s developing antibodies against certain blood types, which can cause severe reactions and make transfusions more difficult in the future.<\/p>\n

The new genotyping testing programme, a partnership between NHSBT and NHS England, uses genetics to identify more of the rarer blood groups.<\/p>\n

Samples are collected at routine hospital appointments, with patients\u2019 DNA tested to find out their blood types.<\/p>\n

About 300 people with transfusion dependent, rare inherited anaemias, are eligible for the test.<\/p>\n

All patients with sickle cell disorder and thalassaemia are also eligible, even if they do not rely on blood transfusions.<\/p>\n

Kate Downes, head of genomics at NHSBT, said: \u201cThe new genotyping test can test blood groups faster and more extensively than standard testing methods.\u201d<\/p>\n

Professor Dame Sue Hill, chief scientific officer at NHS England, said: \u201cThe power of genomics is transforming medicine, with extended blood group genotyping now being utilised to help patients, especially those requiring regular transfusions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an exceptional example of an evidence-based innovation, developed from genetic data, being used to drive forward improvements that will make a huge difference across the NHS.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlood donations can be lifesaving for patients, and the NHS needs a constant flow of donations to provide people with the best possible care, so I\u2019d encourage anyone who can donate to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Woody\u2019s family were alerted to potential health conditions at a 20-week pregnancy scan.<\/p>\n

He was born prematurely at 34 weeks with haemoglobin levels around a quarter of what they should have been.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/Woody\u2019s mother Polly was alerted to her son\u2019s health condition at a pregnancy scan (NHSBT\/Family handout)<\/p>\n

Woody\u2019s mother Polly Mayers, 35, from Robertsbridge in East Sussex, said: \u201cWhen he was born, he was very poorly and pale. He didn\u2019t cry for a few minutes. He needed ventilation breaths. It was really frightening.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first few days were very critical for Woody. He was extremely unwell. Nobody knew the cause for his haemolytic anaemia.\u201d<\/p>\n

The toddler has now being having regular transfusions fore more than a year, receiving 140mls of red blood cells every four weeks to boost his haemoglobin.<\/p>\n

Despite this, his family describes him as an energetic little boys who likes trips to the park and riding his bike.<\/p>\n

His mother added: \u201cWoody will need the blood to be well-matched so that his transfusions don\u2019t become too difficult or risky.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe test will help him and anyone else with a similar condition. I hope everyone eligible gets it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\/Woody, who is 22 months, enjoys trips to the park and riding his bike (NHSBT\/Family handout)<\/p>\n

Ms Downes said: \u201cWoody has very rare disorder and he relies on blood transfusions to stay alive but these need to be well matched.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want everyone eligible, like Woody, to be tested so they can get better matched blood. We also need more people to donate, so we can supply the matched lifesaving blood to Woody and people like him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Woody\u2019s family are also urging people to donate blood.<\/p>\n

Mrs Mayers, a community matron, said: \u201cThere\u2019s no way to sugar-coat it \u2013 if it wasn\u2019t for blood donors, Woody would not be alive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m incredibly grateful to blood donors for ensuring blood is available when he needs it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"About 300 people will be eligible for the test, which uses genetics to get detailed blood group information.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98097,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[200,79],"class_list":["post-98096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-genetics","tag-genetics","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}