New-born Screening Expanded

The testing of new-born babies in the U.K. for a variety of diseases is nothing new. Around 700,000 babies are currently tested each year for a range of genetic conditions such as cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anaemia. The BBC has reported that screening for genetic conditions is to be expanded to cover some rare but important conditions in an attempt to give more children a chance of a long, healthy life.

Some of the new conditions that midwives will be screening for include the exotically named maple syrup urine disease and long chain fatty acidaemia. (I had always wondered how a blood sample was obtained from a baby for such screening, but the BBC article I read solved that little mystery for me – the midwives prick the baby’s heel and obtain drops of blood from the foot).

This adds to the whole screening process that takes place in the NHS designed to ensure that mothers and their children have the best chance in life. Mothers-to-be have their blood routinely screened. Rhesus negative mothers who are carrying Rhesus positive children need to be monitored carefully to prevent Haemolytic Disease of the New-born. I have had the privilege of visiting a hospital laboratory in recent weeks where such screening was taking place and it was quite heart-warming to know that Lorne blood grouping reagents were being used in the process.

Whilst this new expansion of screening is a pilot scheme, it should not be long before it is rolled out nationwide as a matter of routine. It confirms the UK as a world leader in screening policy. Long may it continue!
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A Revolution in Blood Screening UK?

We have been on our travels again. It was a mysterious trip deep into a mysterious part of Europe. We had the opportunity to visit a hospital where they have been trialling a new blood analyser which the hospital uses for blood screening. Having a chance to see this remarkable machine in action was too good an opportunity to miss.

In many ways, blood screening euro-style is much the same as you would find in blood screening UK. The department was very busy - it was a Monday morning after all. The analyser is an automated machine that uses wet reagents. They very kindly set it up and set it running while we were there. It was screening patient samples for ABO and Coombs. I wasn’t aware of any automated process for Coombs tests, but here it was before my eyes. Very impressive!

The most amazing thing about it was the delivery of the results. Once the analysis was complete, the computer displayed a series of digital photographs, clearly identifying the agglutination (or not) of each sample. Manual checking took place in seconds and the results were stored digitally - saving the hospital storage space. All in all, the advantages over other automated solutions were clear to see.

So, will this new analyser make a big impact on blood screening UK? It should come to market later this year, once the trials have been completed. The data so far has been very encouraging and at about a quarter of the cost of other automated blood analysers, it could make a significant splash in the UK.

Who knows where our next mystery trip will take us?

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Exhibition Fatigue

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When you get today three of an exhibition, even one as spectacular as Arab Health, you can start to suffer from exhibition fatigue. You have a nice stand, decorated with screens and posters advertising the products you sell and the benefits they provide. You have been standing here for two and a half days already and you still have one and a half to go. Business cards and conversations all start to blur. And your thoughts start to drift to the evening’s entertainment rather than blood screening kits or blood transfusion equipment.

Not that I am bemoaning anything to do with Blood Screening or blood transfusion. It is the business we are in. Spectacular as the World Trade Centre in Dubai can be, and regardless of the amazing city beyond its walls, the inside of an exhibition here is much the same as it is anywhere. The people drift in, they pick up your marketing materials, they glance at your posters and chat about distribution or buying stuff.

Then, and I don’t why, day four arrives and you get a second wind. You don’t mind chatting blood screening or talking to that same guy again about blood transfusion or whatever. The place takes on a fresh look once again. Maybe it’s because you feel all conscientious again and want to do the very best for the business. Or maybe it’s because you will soon be packing up and going home. I guess I really know which one it is.

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Is this a camel I see before me? Arab Health 2012

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I kid you not. Here I am in Dubai, attending the spectacular Arab Health Exhibition at the World Trade Centre and on a piece of scrubby desert land across the road from my hotel is a camel. Maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised. I am in the Middle East after all. However, my hotel is just a short walk from the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, and the district I am standing in is amongst the most spectacular cityscape of skyscrapers and hotels in the world.
It provides a break from the usual exhibition conversations. So far, it has been the usual diet of blood screening this and blood transfusion that. Lorne is in the business of blood grouping reagents and to be here is to be a player. Try not exhibiting and everyone starts to ask why you have disappeared.
Another exhibitor takes a look over my shoulder. ‘Yes, it is a camel’, he states and returns to reading an article on blood screening. Or blood transfusion. Something blood related anyway. ‘That’s Dubai for you’, he adds. ‘They say a camel is a horse designed by a committee. Look around you. We have the tallest building in the world to our right and the Arabian Desert to our left. The whole place has been designed by a committee.’

I think he may be right.

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Medica 2011

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It’s that time of the year again. After weeks of preparation, six of the Lorne team are heading off to Dusseldorf in Germany to fly the flag for the company. For those that have never been, this is the largest trade fair of its kind in Europe, occupying the huge exhibition complex next to the Rhine, just to the north of the city. I suspect that it could be seen from space, but I don’t have the time to go and find out for myself.

Everyone who is anyone in this business will be there. The Lorne team will be there in our capacity as a manufacturer of high quality blood screening reagents as well as being laboratory equipment suppliers. It is a great time to catch up with many of the Lorne distributors who are coming from across the globe to be there. This year, just to add a bit of spice to the proceedings, we will be offering two training sessions – a chance for us to give a little bit more information to the attendees about blood screening, blood grouping reagents, the manufacturing process and a little about the company as well. We might just chuck in something about the excellent blood banks we supply. Well, why wouldn’t we? They are rather good, you know.

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MD AT LORNE LABS DOES MORE THAN BLOOD REAGENTS

Out with Lions Club of Fleet last night we raised £312.93 (plus Australia 5c, Austria 1 Schilling, Isle of Man 2p and USA 25c)

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