Has the knowledge economy a role to play in transfusion medicine?

ABSTRACT

The history of blood transfusion has been dominated by the search for compatibility for species specificity, the search for how to transfer blood from one individual into another or infuse. Safety has become a major issue since it became clear that blood was not only able to allow mystical miracles to take place but could transmit infectious diseases. The science behind these ideas reflects observation, a thinking and exchange of knowledge and skills, originally documented in reports or case studies of what has happened and was observed, and peer presented - knowledge economy.