The amount of blood reserves is dropping due to a decline in blood donation following the widespread Middle East respiratory syndrome scare, the Korean Red Cross said Sunday.
According to the blood service division of the Red Cross, a total of 230 organizations withdrew their plans to make donations between June 2 and July 15.
Among them were 122 high schools, seven universities, 40 military units and 61 other organizations, totaling 25,310 people.
Individual donations have also dwindled, with a total of 182,883 having donated between May 22 and June 13, a 2.7 percent drop from 187,887 in the same period last year.
Of them, those who donated blood plasma declined by 15.5 percent.
Red blood cell products currently held by the Red Cross reached an amount usable for 6.1 days, just over the standard reserves amount of 5 days.
While 5,250 packs of the product — with each pack holding 400 milliliters — is spent each day, only 32,045 packs are left, they said.
Reserved amount for blood type O and A are especially low, they added.
“The prospects are dim as group-level donations are being canceled since the MERS outbreak … If the blood reserves drop further, we plan to act based on the crisis management manual,” a Red Cross official said.
Meanwhile, the Red Cross called off its own blood donation festival due to MERS. It was slated to be held this weekend along the Cheonggyecheon Stream, downtown Seoul, on the occasion of the June 14 World Blood Donor Day.
From news reports (khnews@heraldcorp.com)
