Our World

Infected Blood Donations

Until very recently, few people had heard of vCJD, or variant Creut-zfeld-Jakob Disease. Now, for those in Britain who have received blood transfusions, they can only wish they hadn't. At least three deaths have been confirmed to be due to infected blood donations, a high percentage of the small group known to have received blood from supposedly-healthy donors who later developed the illness.

It begins with exposure to a certain TSE in cattle, through infected beef. After crossing the species barrier, transmission becomes much easier. vCJD is spread through transfusion of infected blood and may also be passed on by surgical implements. The fact is, it is very hard to control this when symptoms do not show for as much as a decade, and there are no tests, so there is no way to know how much or who of the blood supply, donors, or receivers have the disease. vCJD begins with neurological dysfunctions-- variations on schizophrenia and depression-- and escalates to shut down mobility and slowly deteriorate the body.

Now, regarding the surgical instruments....particularly those used in dental surgery. Apparently, and here I quote directly from the article, "routine sterilisation is not enough to destroy the prions that cause the disease." !!! I was surprised by this comment. I hope the health officials consider this completely unacceptable and make every effort to eliminate the possibility of transmission through surgery.

It's a scary thought: that the only thing that can save your life at one point may kill you ten years later. I know a bit about the concerns of health organizations when it comes to donated blood. Many students participated in the blood drive recently, which is a wonderful thing to do, so long as you know your blood is healthy. I, however, regardless of age, would not be accepted as a donor, along with any others who have lived in the UK for long enough; Red Cross restrictions state that "The American Red Cross is refusing donations from people who have spent a cumulative three months in Great Britain or those who have spent six months in any part of Europe since 1980. " These restrictions are in place because of diseases like vCJD, which could lie dormant for years, undetectable, and suddenly become lethal.

Yet another worry of globalization... There have been very few cases of vCJD in the US; they are chiefly concentrated in Britain, with a few scattered in Europe, but with this new development, there is more concern about it spreading. As we know from our textbook, this affects more than just the people who catch it...remember the bans on British beef exports? Many, many problems are caused by these virtually uncontrollable bugs.

More about vCJD, from the World Health Organization...

Article: "Infected Blood Threatens Fresh Outbreak of vCJD..."

posted by Anonymous @ 12/07/2006 07:16:00 PM