It is flu season again
Don’t forget that it is flu season. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has recommendations for cancer patients and survivors, their families, and their caregivers. Here are just a few:
Are cancer patients and survivors more likely to get the flu than others?
We do not know if cancer patients and survivors are at greater risk for infection with flu. However, we do know that cancer patients and survivors are at higher risk for complications from flu, including hospitalization and death.
What should cancer patients and survivors do if they think they may have the flu?
If you have received cancer treatment such as chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy within the last month, or have a blood or lymphatic form of cancer, call your doctor immediately if you get flu symptoms.
Research Survey for Adult Stem Cell Transplant Patients and their Caregivers
We recently received an email requesting our help in spreading the following about a research survey being conducted by the University of North Carolina:
Are you an adult who has had an allogeneic transplant, or are you the caregiver of someone who has undergone this treatment?
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are preparing to develop resources to help adult allogeneic stem cell transplant recipients and their caregivers. Their goal is to make post-transplant recovery easier and less stressful, and to help people get back to normal after transplant. They have developed a brief survey that asks transplant recipients and caregivers to provide feedback on the biggest challenges to having a healthy recovery after hospital discharge. They also want to know what kinds of resources would make recovery easier and less stressful. Your feedback on these issues would help them create those resources.
The survey asks about:
- The medications and self-care that were most important to you but that you found most difficult to follow after hospital discharge,
- How well you think you were able to follow recommendations for medications and self-care,
- Help and information you got, or that you would have liked to get, to help you follow those recommendations, and
- Other kinds of resources that would have made recovery easier and less stressful.
If you would be willing to provide feedback on these issues, please click on the link below. It will take you to the survey, which will take 10-15 minutes to complete. Your responses will be completely anonymous. If you have any questions, please contact Christine Rini at 919-843-6580 or christine.rini@unc.edu.
Your Anonymous Survey Link: https://unc.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_bkJOZXVoBx1pVIh
Discussing half-matched BMTs and sickle cell disease
In the 2009 video below, Dr. Robert Brodsky, Professor of Medicine and Chief of Hematology at Johns Hopkins Medicine, discusses the procedure known as the half-matched transplant and its use in treating sickle cell disease.
Earlier this year, Dr. Brodsky was a member of a research team who reported encouraging results from a small preliminary study of sickle cell patients, some of whom received half-matched transplants. According to Brodsky, “while bone marrow transplants have long been known to cure sickle cell disease, only a small percentage of patients have fully matched, eligible donors.” The John Hopkins researchers hope that this procedure “could potentially help make bone marrow transplants accessible to a majority of sickle cell patients who need them.”
To read more about the half-match transplant study:
