A blood bank in the central China province of Henan has used a state-of-the-art technology that can prolong the shelf life of rhesus (RH) negative blood to 10 years by storing the rare blood in very low temperature for future use.

The blood bank in Jiaozuo City introduced an advanced M115 blood cell cleansing system in December 2003, which can freeze the blood cells so that the blood can be stored for up to 10 years at minus 85 degrees Celsius.

For clinical use, the frozen blood can be taken out of the fridge three hours in advance for the thawing and cleansing process.

To date, the blood bank has provided thawed blood to seven RH negative patients in the province.

Only three out of every thousand Han people, the dominant ethnic group in China, have RH negative blood. RH negative people must receive transfusions of this type of blood to avoid hemolysis.

Before the new technology was introduced, many other blood banks in China had worked out ways to extend the life span of the rare blood from just a few weeks to several years.

(Xinhua News Agency February 19, 2004)