Blood Transfusions

Blood is a liquid transplant!

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Many years ago I was invited to the local hopital to address the audience at a Diploma Awarding Ceremony - to Haematologists.

At that time the first '' Factor 8 "' cases of HIV were appearing.

I made the point - very stongly - that a blood transfusion was a gross assult on the immune system. And that it could result in many typrs of problem.

I had thought that , years ago, it was accepted that , if you had a blood transfusion , then you used your own blood - which had previously been taken into storage.

However it now appears that this has NOT been rigorously followed. With the result that blood transfusions are now givig rise to Mad Cow disease [BSE] of the human variety- Creuzfeld-Jakob Disease - as below.

Thousands of patients were today sent letters warning them that they may have been exposed to the degenerative brain condition Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease through transfusions of blood plasma products such as clotting agents.
The official notification exercise was announced by the health secretary, John Reid, earlier this month. The chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, stressed that the notification was "highly precautionary" and said the excercise was aimed at reducing the risk of onward transmission of variant CJD through surgery.
Throughout our handling of the issue of vCJD we have adopted a highly precautionary approach, taking a series of steps as new evidence became available to maximise the protection of the public.
"This risk assessment continues this approach and identifies three groups of patients who need to know that they may be at a small increased risk of developing vCJD than the rest of the population who ate beef during the 1980s and 1990s."
The information would enable these people and their doctors to take the necessary steps to minimise the risk of onward transmission of vCJD, he added.
Selected patients have been told that because they received certain batches of plasma products in the past they could be at a small increased risk of carrying the vCJD agent. About 200 batches of plasma products were derived from 23 blood donations given by nine people, who has later gone on to develop vCJD.
The patients who may be affected include people with haemophilia and other bleeding disorders. About 6,000 patients with these conditions have been notified of the vCJD risk, although the number who may have been directly affected is likely to be lower at around 4,000.
A small number of people with primary immunodeficiency and others who have been treated with large quantities of particular plasma products have also been included in the notification excercise.
The Department of Health (DoH) said the "additional risk to these people is likely to be very small" but it was necessary to take precautionary measures against passing the infection on. These included ensuring that affected patients did not donate blood, tissue or organs and that they told their doctors and dentists if they underwent treatment in future.
The letters were sent after a risk evaluation exercise recommended by the expert CJD incident panel. It follows two cases since December last year where vCJD is thought to have been passed on by blood transfusion. Blood donated by a small number of people who went on to develop vCJD has now been traced. Patients who received direct, one-to-one transfusion of "whole blood" from these donors were contacted earlier this year and told about the additional risk they faced.
Now plasma from the same donors used to make products such as clotting agents has also been traced. The DoH said plasma products were manufactured from pools of thousands of donations, which greatly reduced the risk of passing on vCJD.
Mr Reid said: "Two principles have guided my department's handling of the issue of vCJD and its possible transmission through blood - maximum caution and maximum openness. That is why, since the first report of suspected transmission via whole blood transfusion last December, we have taken further steps to maximise the safety of the UK's blood supply.
"We have also been open with the public, parliament and health professionals about each step we have taken and the expert advice behind it. We are continuing this approach today by announcing the results of this risk assessment exercise."