A HAZARD OF REPEATED BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS

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Abstract
The use of whole blood in the treatment of medical and surgical conditions has increased greatly during the past 10 years to the point where about 3,000,000 transfusions are given each year in this country alone.1 This widespread use of blood transfusions has led to the recognition of a number of serious hazards associated with the procedure, the most commonly encountered and best known of these being Rh immunization, hemolytic reactions due to major blood group incompatability, and the transmission of certain diseases, notably homologous serum jaundice, malaria, syphilis, and, in some areas, brucellosis.2 An additional hazard that is less well recognized, but one that is growing in importance because of the increasing incidence of repeated blood transfusions, is that of hemolytic reaction due to immunization by one or more of the recently discovered blood group factors, such as Kell (K),3 Cellano (k),4 Duffy (Fya),5