No cases of A.I.D.S. from recent transfusions

Press, 4 May 1988, Page 26

No cases of A.I.D.S. from recent transfusions

PA Wellington New Zealanders should not be alarmed at reports that the A.I.D.S. virus has been transmitted through blood transfusions to seven people in the United States, said the Wellington Blood Transfusion Services medical director, Dr Ray Fong. Dr Fong was responding to a Sunday newspaper report which said that despite testing of donated blood the virus was still being transmitted through blood transfusions.

This appeared to be due to the fact that there was a window period before the infected person developed antibodies against the virus which could be detected by analysis of blood samples. Dr Fong said he was not aware of any cases in New Zealand, since screening was introduced in 1985, of infection with the virus being traced to a

blood transfusion. He said that Stanford University Medical School professor and chairman of its Department of Surgery, Dr John Collins, had told a meeting in Wellington that the seven United States cases had been traced back to blood donors who were at high risk of contracting A.I.D.S.

In New Zealand the transfusion service actively tried to screen out all people in high risk groups. Large notices were displayed in donation centres and the enrolment form asked whether a person fitted into one of these groups and if so, requested them to refrain from donating blood.

However, the service relied on people’s honesty because of the incubation period before the virus would show up in a test, Dr Fong said.

At the moment there was no sure way of detecting the virus during the window period al-

though work was now being done overseas to develop a superior test

The chairman of the A.I.D.S. Advisory Committee, Dr Richard Meech, has called on all doctors to test all donors of blood, tissues or any sort of body secretions to be used in any other patient for the presence of the virus.

Dr Meech said the number of notified cases of A.I.D.S. and infection with the virus was continuing to increase in New Zealand. In March there were 71 cases of A.I.D.S. and 333 confirmed antibody positive blood tests. “All clinicians involved with any form of tissue transplantation (including renal, cardiac, bone marrow, bone cornea, liver, skin) or body fluid donation (breast milk, blood or semen) should now be taking precautions to prevent transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (H.1.V.),” he said.