Three-year-old Wyatt Lafontaine will thank blood donors in person on Christmas Eve in Ottawa.

(OTTAWA) – A large Canadian study has shown a link between blood donor characteristics and transfusion recipients’ outcomes. This is the first study to suggest that red blood cell transfusions from young donors and from female donors may be associated with poorer survival in recipients. Red blood cell transfusions are the most common medical procedure provided in hospitals, with more than 100 million units collected worldwide every year for this purpose, according to the World Health Organization. “These results are intriguing and suggest that if you require a transfusion, your clinical