Haemophilia Society Demands Urgent Action On VCJD Blood Transmission, UK

Main Category: Blood / Hematology
Also Included In: CJD / vCJD / Mad Cow Disease
Article Date: 18 Feb 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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Following the first confirmed case of a person with haemophilia being infected with vCJD through their NHS treatment, the Haemophilia Society is demanding that the Government takes swift action to offer counselling to potential victims, and to protect the blood supply.

The devastating confirmation that vCJD can be transmitted through blood products, which people with haemophilia have feared since being been told in 2004 that they had been exposed to contaminated treatment, was leaked to the press on Thursday. The Haemophilia Society has criticised the way in which the news was released, and the Government's failure to offer counselling to those deemed to be 'at risk' due to their repeated treatment with medical products derived from human blood.

Chris James, Chief Executive of the Haemophilia Society commented saying:-

"This terrible news is causing huge worry and concern to families all over the UK. It is vital that, following the mishandled release of this news, the Department of Health now acts swiftly to give people the full details and offer them the appropriate support. Detailed information about recent developments must be made available immediately to all those who have been treated with potentially-infected plasma products.

"Unfortunately, the risks are higher than they might have been because Health Authorities in England and Wales continued to use products derived from human blood to treat haemophilia long after most other developed countries had switched to safer, synthetic recombinant treatments.

"Additionally, a test for the infectious vCJD prion must be introduced as soon as it is available. It is vital that the Government learns from the previous contaminated blood disaster, which saw almost 5,000 people with haemophilia infected with hepatitis C and/or HIV. This test must be used to protect the blood supply as soon as it becomes available, and should also be offered to everyone who has potentially been treated with contaminated blood products.

"I will be writing to The Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP, Secretary of State for Health raising these concerns."

- Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) is a fatal brain disease first classified in the 1920s. In 1996, doctors reported a variant of the disease, vCJD. Research since suggests that vCJD is the result of exposure to the agent that causes Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE, or 'mad cow disease') in cattle.

- There have been four reported cases of vCJD transmission via blood transfusions in the UK. The first case of transmission from plasma-derived factor concentrates used to treat haemophilia was officially announced today, but was leaked by the Department of Health on Thursday.

Haemophilia Society