If someone has a damaged/destroyed immune system, can blood transfusions help fight infections?
In: Biology
White blood cells are our immune system cells that help fight infections. In very rare circumstances, a person might receive a white blood cell transfusion, but it’s not common at all. Typically if a patient has a weakened immune system, doctors will prescribe drugs that help the body produce its own white blood cells. Blood cells are produced in bone marrow, so if the bone marrow isn’t functioning properly and not producing white blood cells like it should, bone marrow transplants can occur.
No, evidence suggests that having a blood transfusion makes you more susceptible to infection- not directly contracted from the blood, but by knocking the immune system and making you more prone to pick up things your body otherwise would have fought off (such as UTI, chest infection and skin infections).
I have an autoimmune disease. It causes Anemia From Chronic Disease. I have to get iron infusions because if it gets bad enough I need a blood transfusion it just fucks me up. Last time I was out of work for a few months recovering. I actually have a few autoimmune diseases that are probably all the same thing but that s not how doctors work. A transfusion sets them all off on a massive level.
Other people may have different experiences.
Basically, the answer is no. Transfusion only fight anemia.
Depending on the cause of the infection there are different medications that can help. For bacterial infections that’s antibiotics, for viral infections that’s antivirals and for fugal infections it’s antifungals.
Strengthening your overall health and with it your immune system also helps ofc.
A FULL blood transfusion would be excessive as the host body does not need red blood cells and excessive red blood cells can lead to its own issues.
A blood plasma infusion is used. This separates the red blood cells and a few other things out. What is injected is white cells and platelets. These can help the body fight diseases, but it is INCREDIBLY taxing on the body and is only used for extreme cases, like very advanced AIDS or a disease class called Common Variable Immune Deficiency (CVID), in which the body does not make or makes very dysfunctional white cells.
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