Supplementary to the well recognized major blood types such as A,B,O and the Rh, individuals carry (or lack) additional blood sub-types on their Red Blood Cells, that may make them very unique. Each blood unit, out of the 1,000 donated daily, is tested at MDA blood services, in order to determine the blood type of the donor.
The NBGRL, operating at MDA since 1995, is in charge of characterization of the RBC antigens among blood donors. It also serves as the reference laboratory supporting all the hospitals' blood-banks in the country, when they need to solve and diagnose cases of patients with unidentified antibodies or rare blood subtypes, and to provide them with blood units from the regular or frozen-units inventory.
When a rare blood type is identified, the donor or patients are advised. Since "regular" blood units can be used only within 35-42 days, the rare units undergo special preparation and are kept frozen for many years, at a temperature of -80ºc, in special freezers.
The NBGRL team has established a database of such rare donors, for patients with similar blood types. As the blood type is determined through inherited genetics, and due to the ingathering of the exiles and the varied population that arrived from different countries, some 980 patients and blood donors are known today in Israel, with rare blood types. Some of them have only been identified in Israel; others may be part of a very unique and isolated group of people known throughout the world.
The annual costs of reagents and disposables for the NBGRL are 200,000 US$
As of today there are 1600 rare blood units at MDA frozen reservoir, designated for patients requiring rare blood transfusions, in order to save their lives in emergency conditions.
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