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ItalianoA graduate of the Entrepreneurial University® suffering from a particularly complicated form of leukaemia finally provided the final impetus: blood donation campaigns have been held regularly at the MCI for several years. The next time, one should also be able to register as a stem cell donor. This action has now been brought forward for a given occasion. In cooperation with the blood donation service of the Austrian Red Cross, the MCI auditorium was unceremoniously transformed into Red Cross headquarters, and all students and MCI staff were invited to be typed as stem cell donors. 430 people spontaneously registered; an additional 100 test kits were distributed at the MCI.
"To be able to help other people", "The question is really: Why not?", "I saw the appeal and spontaneously decided", "To be able to save lives", "It's not really a big deal" were spontaneous reactions of the students who made themselves available as potential stem cell donors.
Stem cells from healthy donors often represent the only chance to save the lives of patients with malignant blood diseases. However, the probability that the tissue characteristics of two people match is a low 1:500,000. Two out of 10 patients, many of them children and young people, currently cannot find a suitable donor. Registering as many people as possible makes it possible to search for matching donors for people with the disease worldwide.
Registration and typing is simple. People between the ages of 18 and 45 who do not have any serious illnesses are eligible. A cheek swab is taken with the help of a cotton swab, examined in the laboratory and - in compliance with strict data protection criteria - entered into an international database. The actual stem cell donation is similar to a blood plasma donation. In preparation, a drug that stimulates the production of stem cells is administered for several days. The collection is usually done in a larger medical centre (hospital, clinic).