Zhang Yang

nicolezyyy@163.com

A THALASSEMIA patients’ center that is open 24/7 was launched at the Shenzhen Hospital of Southern Medical University in Bao’an District on Thursday morning to provide day-long blood transfusions for thalassemia patients.

Thalassemias are inherited blood disorders characterized by abnormal hemoglobin production, with symptoms of mild to severe anemia resulting from a low volume of red blood cells. The carrier rate of the thalassemia gene is 16.8 percent in Guangdong, meaning that every one in six people in the province carry the gene.

According to Zhang Yuming, director of the hospital’s pediatric department, children with severe beta thalassemia begin showing symptoms of anemia when they are 3 to 6 months old, and will need regular blood transfusions and iron chelation therapy for the rest of their life or they might suffer from growth retardation, multisystem damage or even multiple organ failure.

Thalassemia patients usually need a blood transfusion one to three times each month, but there hadn’t been a dedicated blood transfusion center for them in Bao’an before the hospital set up its thalassemia patients’ center Thursday, according to the hospital.

Xiao Liehui, the hospital’s Party chief, said the hospital has provided blood transfusions for over 100 patients since the end of May, and it launched the thalassemia patients’ center with the aim of providing safer medical services for patients in a more convenient way.