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  1. #1
    Senior Member SeaTurtle's Avatar
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    Local blood centers targeting Latino population

    " Monday, 07 July 2008
    By David Taube

    Staff Writer

    Regional blood centers have focused on Latino population recruitment for the past year, but turnout among members of diverse populations remains low or concealed.

    Blood drives in the following weeks may garner opportunities for change.

    The American Red Cross Hazleton Chapter will hold one of the largest drives of its northeastern Pennsylvania regional organization Wednesday at the Genetti’s Best Western in Hazleton. The donor site is located at 1441 N. Church St. and will run from 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. The goal is 160 units for part of its annual, region-wide Independence Day 2008 drive.

    No particular blood types are being sought at this time, said Joyce Bradbury, executive director of the chapter. As of June 23, Types A-negative, B-negative, AB-negative and both O-positive and O-negative were marked as "low" for NEPA, according to www.nepagivelife.org, on a scale with critical, low and safe levels for the of the four different blood groups.

    "It’s that shot in the arm we typically need in the summer when donations tend to dribble off a bit," said John Castagna, communications manager of the American Red Cross Northeastern Pennsylvania Region.

    Miller-Keystone will hold a regular drive July 15 at Hazleton General Hospital, 700 E. Broad St., for the company’s daily goal of 450 units. Additional times and contact information are available at www.giveapint.org.

    For Miller-Keystone, individuals having O-negative and A-negative blood types are especially being sought, said Catherine Palumbo, director of marketing.

    Individuals with Type O-negative blood are referred to as universal donors because patients with any blood type can receive transfusions. Typically, a victim’s blood type is needed in order to make sure one’s body will not reject the transfusion, but any patient’s body will accept O-negative.

    In the United States, 38 percent of the population has O-positive or O-negative blood. While 37 percent of caucasians fit this profile, more than 50 percent of Hispanics may have O-type blood, according to research by the University of Texas at Galveston last fall.

    The demand for the universal blood type has prompted some recruitment of diverse populations.

    Palumbo said Miller-Keystone has specifically sought for the past year to recruit individuals from Latino populations from the 24/7 Spanish-speaking radio station Hola 1600AM, which serves Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton markets, in addition to Channel 69 News. Palumbo declined to comment how this advertising affected Latino donors.

    For the American Red Cross in northeastern Pennsylvania, 770 units of blood out of 85,000 collected in the past year were from Latino donors. Field representatives for the organization have sought to change that by talking to local businesses and political figures nearly every day since the past year, Castagna said.

    "We don’t look at it as color," said Sybil Miller, communications director for the northeast division of the American Red Cross. "We look at it as different ways to reach out to your community — it could be age, religion or ethnicity."

    A press release for the American Red Cross Independence Days 2008 reads, "The need for O-types of blood is increasing at a time when donation — and engagement by that [the Hispanic] population is not."

    But Castagna said that the organization has done little advertising other than by word-of-mouth to specifically solicit this population.

    Latinos actively engaged in the community cited several reasons for this turnout.

    Agapito Lopez, who served on the board of directors for the American Red Cross Hazleton Chapter, said many adults in the area work two shifts, others have a language barrier and many may be unaware of blood drives.

    Ignacio Beato, a Dominican Republic native and co-founder of the Dominican House, said residents of his country do not have a history of donating blood. Furthermore, Beato said, comparing ethnicity is like comparing apples to oranges because the Latino population had no significant presence in Hazleton until 2000.

    Beato, a Hazleton resident of five years, said he has not noticed any recruitment of Latinos for blood donations in either Spanish or English.

    "The city is beginning to see Latinos integrate with the community and that they are here to stay," Beato said. "But Latinos need to be informed about the issues and causes."

    dtaube@standardspeaker.com

    http://standardspeaker.com/index.php...=7812&Itemid=2

    From SeaTurtle: If there were no significant Hispanic population before 2000, how can they still argue that there is no problem with illegal aliens in Hazleton? Also, Mr. Beato says Hispanics are starting to integrate. I think not. I go to Hazleton at least three times a week and there is an obvious lack of assimilation. He may think "they are here to stay" but this same newspaper often prints hispandering illegal alien sob stories about how Latinos had to pack in their businesses over a law that never even went into effect.

    These bright gems are Mexico's finest? Good grief. Not to mention that lack of American spirit -- Americans don't give in and run away at the first sign of trouble. We stand tall and proud, and fight for what we believe in. Yet another reason "they are {NOT} here to stay."
    The flag flies at half-mast out of grief for the death of my beautiful, formerly-free America. May God have mercy on your souls.
    RIP USA 7/4/1776 - 11/04/2008

  2. #2
    Senior Member miguelina's Avatar
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    Ignacio Beato, a Dominican Republic native and co-founder of the Dominican House, said residents of his country do not have a history of donating blood. Furthermore, Beato said, comparing ethnicity is like comparing apples to oranges because the Latino population had no significant presence in Hazleton until 2000.

    Beato, a Hazleton resident of five years, said he has not noticed any recruitment of Latinos for blood donations in either Spanish or English.

    "The city is beginning to see Latinos integrate with the community and that they are here to stay," Beato said. "But Latinos need to be informed about the issues and causes."
    This is a sorry excuse, as everything is available in SPANISH to them. The illegal aliens ones have NO problems keeping informed of whatever benefits them. Why does there have to be a "recruitment of Latinos for blood DONATIONS"? I KNOW the Red Cross calls everyone who has donated blood in the past, so I doubt they are unaware of this. In addition, flyers/posters advertise blood drives in English and Spanish.

    Alas, the Red Cross doesn't PAY for your blood, maybe that's the problem?
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  3. #3
    Super Moderator GeorgiaPeach's Avatar
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    Though the article does not specifically mention illegal aliens, the fact that there is no health screening for those who illegally cross our borders, taking blood from this group puts citizens at risk. Chagas, for example is another risk for the population that receives blood, though many blood banks now screen.

    http://www.cdc.gov/chagas/factsheet_scr ... yscreening

    (quote)

    Article Excerpt
    In this era of global connectedness, worldwide travel that once took days or even weeks can now be accomplished within hours by air. Current trends in travel and migration have led to increased risk of the spread of infectious diseases (Cetron, Keystone, Shlim, & Steffens, 1998; Garraud, Andreu, Elghouzzi, Laperche, & Lefrere, 2007; Wilson, 1995). Travel blends communities and thus carries the potential of transforming infectious diseases that are otherwise known to be endemic to certain countries into epidemic and/or pandemic ones. Interestingly, developed western societies are most vulnerable to this phenomenon because the vast majority of immigrants are drawn toward them. An example of this is Chagas disease, which is endemic to Mexico and Central and South America. Cases of this disease already have been reported in Canada and the United States (Goldrick, 2004; Kirchhoff, 1993; World Health Organization [WHO], 2002b). In fact, an estimated 370,000 Latin Americans living in the United States are infected with Chagas disease (Milei, Mautner, Storino, Sanchez, & Ferrans, 1992.

    Hispanics are currently the largest minority in the United States and the fourth largest immigrant population in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2001; U.S. Census Bureau, 2005). Given that immigrants constitute a large portion of the anticipated increase in the North American Hispanic population, emergence of Chagas disease is expected to become more of an issue in Canada and the United States. Issues associated with increased emergence of the disease could be coupled with lack of familiarity among health care providers in both countries. Because nurses and physicians may be the first to encounter undiagnosed cases of Chagas disease, it is essential that public health personnel and health care providers in general become more familiar with the disease, including its incidence and prevalence, clinical manifestations, diagnostic criteria, treatment options, and implications for nursing.

    Background

    Chagas disease, also known as American trypanosomiasis, is an infection caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruz0 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2006b). It is named after Carlos Chagas, a Brazilian physician who first described the disease in 1909 (CDC, 2006b; Lewinsohn, 1981). The disease was endemic in Mexico and 17 countries in Central and South America (WHO, 2002a), but is becoming more prevalent in the United States and Canada (CDC, 2006b). Transmission to humans is mostly blood-borne. Specific modes of transmission include vector, blood transfusions, organ transplantation, vertical transmission (mother to fetus), and laboratory accidents (Canada Communicable Disease Report [CCDR], 2002; CDC, 2006a; Rassi, Rassi, & Little, 2000; WHO, 2002b).

    Modes of Transmission

    Vector mode. Chagas disease is transmitted most commonly to humans through the bite of a vector, the triatomine insect that carries the T. cruzi parasite (CDC, 2006b; WHO, 2002a). Vectors containing T. cruzi are found most often in the cracks and crevices of substandard houses typical of poorer communities in rural areas of the endemic regions. Consequently, of all major vectorborne diseases, Chagas disease is the most closely associated with poverty (Paz-Bailey et al., 2002). Triatomine insects, also known as "kissing bugs," emerge at night, attracted to the exhaled carbon dioxide of sleeping humans. They most often bite around the mouth of the victim. After their blood meal, the triatomine insects deposit feces that contain the parasite on the victim's wounded skin. The parasite then enters the wound and causes the infection when the victim scratches or rubs the bite area. Infection also can occur through direct deposits of triatomine feces into the eyes or mucous membranes of the victim (Prata, 2001).

    Blood transfusion mode. Transfusion of blood infected with the T. cruzi parasite has been reported in endemic areas for almost 40 years (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2003). In fact, Conforto and Sung (2003) suggested that blood transfusion accounts for 15% of all Chagas transmissions worldwide. The likelihood of being infected by T. cruzi through blood transfusion was reported to be 12%-48% in South America (CCDR, 2002; Cetron & Moore, 2003; Research and Training in Tropical Diseases [TDR], 2002). As a result, several Latin American countries implemented screening practices for T. cruzi on all blood donations (TDR, 2002). However, some endemic countries do not screen for T. cruzi and thus transmission through blood transfusion remains a concern. Chagas disease is an emerging threat to blood services in Canada and the United States as a result of immigration of infected persons from endemic areas (American Association of Blood Banks [AABB], 2006; WHO, 2004). In fact, eight cases of Chagas disease in the United States and Canada have been linked to blood transfusions from Mexican and South American blood donors (CCDR, 2002; McCarthy, 2003).

    (quote)

    http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199 ... w-and.html

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