First stem cell typification campaign at MCI a great success

A graduate of the Entrepreneurial School® who suffers from a particularly complicated form of leukaemia provided the final impetus: blood donation campaigns have been held regularly at MCI for several years now. The next time, it should also be possible to register as a stem cell donor. This campaign has now been brought forward for a specific reason. In cooperation with the Blood Donation Service of the Austrian Red Cross, the MCI auditorium was transformed into a temporary Red Cross center. All students and MCI employees were invited to have themselves typified as stem cell donors. Four hundred and thirty people spontaneously registered; an additional 100 test kits were distributed at the MCI.

"To be able to help other people", "The question is actually why not?", "I saw the call and spontaneously decided", "to help save lives", "It's not really a big deal " were spontaneous Reactions of students who made themselves available as potential stem cell donors.

Stem cells from healthy donors are often the only chance to save the lives of patients with malignant blood diseases. However, the probability that the tissue characteristics of two people will match is as low as 1 in 500,000. Two out of 10 patients, many of them children and adolescents, are currently unable to find a suitable donor. The registration of as many people as possible makes it possible to search for suitable donors for sick people worldwide.

Registration and typification is easy. Persons between the ages of 18 and 45 who are free of serious illness are eligible. With the help of a cotton swab, a cheek swab is removed, examined in the laboratory, and in compliance with strict data protection criteria,  registered in an international database. The actual stem cell donation is similar to a blood plasma donation. In preparation, a drug is administered for several days, which stimulates the production of stem cells. The stem cells are usually collected in a larger medical center (hospital, clinic).