{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,13]],"date-time":"2026-07-13T01:08:59Z","timestamp":1783904939776,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":8,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]],"date-time":"2026-04-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1777248000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/termsAndConditions#vor"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]],"date-time":"2026-04-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1777248000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Vox Sanguinis"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,7]]},"abstract":"Abstract<\/jats:title>\n \n Background and Objectives<\/jats:title>\n Millions of people globally reside in \u2018blood deserts\u2019, where systemic barriers prevent timely access to safe blood components. Lodwar County Referral Hospital (LCRH) in Turkana County, Kenya, is a district hospital lacking on\u2010site testing capacity for transfusion\u2010transmissible infection (TTI) screening, resulting in critical transfusion delays. We present three cases in which validated rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) could have facilitated\u00a0point\u2010of\u2010care donor screening and transfusion in life\u2010threatening situations.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Patients and Methods<\/jats:title>\n We present three cases of critically ill patients\u2014two teenagers and an elderly woman\u2014who presented to LCRH over the course of a single week.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n Each patient required emergent transfusions but experienced fatal delays along various points in the transfusion continuum due to the inability to rapidly screen available donor or banked blood for TTIs.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n These cases illustrate how delays in TTI screening can directly contribute to preventable mortality, even when blood is otherwise available. They highlight the urgent need for standardized, contextually appropriate emergency transfusion protocols that formally incorporate RDT use. Our experience suggests that such protocols may reduce transfusion delays, improve access to lifesaving blood and serve as a scalable model for improving blood access in rural and remote \u2018blood deserts\u2019 around the world.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1111\/vox.70279","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,28]],"date-time":"2026-04-28T01:11:06Z","timestamp":1777338666000},"page":"1093-1096","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Life, death and rapid diagnostic tests in the world's blood deserts"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"121","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1330-0611","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Avery A.","family":"Thompson","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Global Health and Social Medicine Harvard Medical School Program in Global Surgery and Social Change Boston Massachusetts USA"},{"name":"Brigham and Women's Hospital Department of Surgery Boston Massachusetts USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-2245-4745","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Samir C.","family":"Seshadri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Global Health and Social Medicine Harvard Medical School Program in Global Surgery and Social Change Boston Massachusetts USA"},{"name":"Boston Children's Hospital Department of Anesthesiology Critical Care and Pain Medicine Boston Massachusetts USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Cindy","family":"Makanga","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Strathmore University, Institute of Healthcare Management Nairobi Kenya"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Riya","family":"Sawhney","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Global Health and Social Medicine Harvard Medical School Program in Global Surgery and Social Change Boston Massachusetts USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Edward","family":"Mutebi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Lodwar County Referral Hospital, Blood Transfusion Services Lodwar Kenya"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nick","family":"Mogaka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Lodwar County Referral Hospital Lodwar Kenya"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tecla","family":"Chelagat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Strathmore University, Institute of Healthcare Management Nairobi Kenya"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5090-0328","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Linda S.","family":"Barnes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Linda S Barnes Consulting Seattle Washington USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nakul","family":"Raykar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Global Health and Social Medicine Harvard Medical School Program in Global Surgery and Social Change Boston Massachusetts USA"},{"name":"Brigham and Women's Hospital Department of Surgery Boston Massachusetts USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_8_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S2214-109X(16)30364-3"},{"key":"e_1_2_8_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S2352-3026(19)30200-5"},{"key":"e_1_2_8_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S2214-109X(23)00564-8"},{"key":"e_1_2_8_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/trf.18460"},{"key":"e_1_2_8_6_1","volume-title":"Guidance on ensuring a sufficient supply of safe blood and blood components during emergencies","author":"World Health Organization","year":"2023"},{"key":"e_1_2_8_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3322\/caac.21834"},{"key":"e_1_2_8_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tranon.2021.101022"},{"key":"e_1_2_8_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"GujralK BasuA.Impact of rural and urban hospital closures on inpatient mortality.2019. NBER Working Paper No. 26182. National Bureau of Economic Research. Available from:https:\/\/www.nber.org\/papers\/w26182. Accessed 22 Apr 2026.","DOI":"10.3386\/w26182"}],"container-title":["Vox Sanguinis"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1111\/vox.70279","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1111\/vox.70279","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1111\/vox.70279","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,13]],"date-time":"2026-07-13T00:29:15Z","timestamp":1783902555000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/vox.70279"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]]},"references-count":8,"journal-issue":{"issue":"7","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,7]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1111\/vox.70279"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/vox.70279","archive":["Portico"],"relation":{},"ISSN":["0042-9007","1423-0410"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0042-9007","type":"print"},{"value":"1423-0410","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]]}}}