An eight-year-old boy named Yu Wenhao received a rare blood type called type p at 3:10 pm on Aug 5th. Type p is extremely rare around the world. What is behind the successful treatment is the effort of a great lot of staffs and physicians in blood transfusion field.
The frequency of p blood is less than part per million in the population. How does the little boy luckily find such a rare blood type?
Rare blood type transfusion is difficult in the world. In Januray, 2105, the Thai National Blood Center in Bangkok, sent a SOS message to the National Rare Blood Bank of China (NRBBC) located in Shanghai Blood Center, a Thai patient with blood disease was thirsty for 4 units of p blood. Having received the SOS email, the NRBBC quickly contacted the blood stations that had registered blood p in NRBBC. Then Jiangsu Blood Center responded with a unit of frozen blood p. As well, Guangzhou Blood Center and Wuhan Blood Center respectively contacted donors with blood p in hopes of saving the Thai patient. Unfortunately the Thai patient died before receiving the 3 units of blood p prepared by Chinese blood service in the end.
On July 14th, 2015, Li Tongtong from Tianjin Blood Center called the Reference & HLA Laboratory of Shanghai Blood Center (SBC) for helping to find p blood. At first, the Laboratory contacted a p blood donor from Hubei Province. However, the donor was checked as unsuitable for donation for health problems. Then, they contacted Jiangsu Blood Center. Liu Yanchun, director of the blood transfusion research department of Jiangsu Blood Center, nicely promised to provide help after hearing the story of Yu Wenhao. Then the story of treating the little boy went.
Getting the source of the frozen p blood supplied by Jiangsu Blood Center is not smooth. In 2009, Mr zhang who needed blood transfusion was identified as a rare blood type carrier. His blood sample was sent to the Reference & HLA Laboratory of SBC for identification. Quickly it was identified as p blood. In the survey of his blood type, his sixth young brother was also identified as a p blood carrier. In 2013, his sixth young brother donated rare 300ml rare p blood to save a just born baby. This unit of P blood, which wasn’t used for various reasons, had been frozen in the low-temperature circumstance.
On Aug 5th, the unit of P blood which had been frozen for 2 years was used to treat Yu Wenhao. The surgery was successful, the little boy was reborn, which is, however, the common effort of blood type staffs and physicians’ strive and accumulation. Little Wenhao’s being rescued involves the common endeavor of blood type staffs and physicians around the country and the working accumulation of advocacy, promotion and popularization by NRBBC.
A little unit of p blood carries enthusiasm, dedication and love of all blood type staffs and physicians.
Translated by Wang Zhongying Revised by Li Qin
