Doctors seeing resistance to blood transfusions over unfounded COVID vaccine concerns
CBC
Alberta physicians are raising the alarm about a dangerous trend — fuelled by misinformation — that could cost lives.
Dr. Stephanie Cooper, an obstetrician specializing in high-risk births at Foothills Medical Centre, said a patient recently refused to consent to a blood transfusion if it came from a donor who had received the COVID-19 vaccine.
"I see people with severe hemorrhage due to childbirth on a regular basis. And for me, the idea that this is out there is somewhat mind-boggling."
It came up in a routine conversation while she was counselling the patient before a C-section. The patient did not end up needing a blood transfusion.
Shocked by what she'd encountered, Cooper shared her experience on Twitter and was inundated with responses, including from other health-care providers who reached out with similar stories.
"I'm quite concerned about it," she said, noting Canada's blood supply does not register the COVID vaccination status of donors.
"There isn't a choice to receive COVID vaccine-negative blood. So by declining blood, it means you will die."
This is not an isolated incident in Alberta.
"We're seeing it about once or twice a month, at this stage. And the worry is of course that these requests might increase," said Dr. Dave Sidhu, the southern Alberta medical lead for transfusion and transplant medicine.
That includes parents of sick children.
"We do see a few, certainly in our bone marrow transplant patients in particular. You have to remember these kiddos are immuno-compromised and there's always more sensitivity around these patients, and some of them can be quite frail," said Sidhu, who is also an associate professor in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary.
"Any caution or questions around that, we encourage our parents to ask."
According to Sidhu, requests for so-called directed blood donations, taken from an unvaccinated parent or legal guardian, come with a number of risks and have not been accommodated.
So far, parents have agreed to proceed after he's talked with them, he said.