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Two stories:
One good news and the other, bad news and getting badder. First the good news - about your risk of getting HIV or hepatitis from a blood transfusion . . .The risk keeps getting smaller.
Blood Transfusions Safer Than Ever
Chance Of Developing Hepatitis Or HIV Dropping
March 28, 2003 10:37:11 AM PST, ACS News Today
The risk of contracting a serious infection through a blood transfusion has been dropping every year for several decades, and the blood supply is the safest it has ever been, according to a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Vol. 289, No. 8: 959-962). That means fewer Americans are likely to contract HIV or hepatitis as a result of blood transfusions.
Chance Of Developing Hepatitis Or HIV Dropping
March 28, 2003 10:37:11 AM PST, ACS News Today
The risk of contracting a serious infection through a blood transfusion has been dropping every year for several decades, and the blood supply is the safest it has ever been, according to a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Vol. 289, No. 8: 959-962). That means fewer Americans are likely to contract HIV or hepatitis as a result of blood transfusions.
According to Michael Busch MD, PhD, the lead author of the report, a person receiving a blood transfusion in 2003 has only a one in 1,800,000 chance of developing an infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The risk for developing hepatitis C, one of the two major blood borne hepatitis viruses, is one in 1,600,000. The chance of getting hepatitis B is one in 220,000.
The numbers for HIV and hepatitis C have been dropping steadily since the development of new tests that can detect these viruses in donated blood earlier than was possible before.
Newer tests were introduced in 1998. These tests, called nucleic acid technology screening or NAT, can actually measure the virus levels in the blood. Virus levels rise much earlier than the antibody response and shorten the window period.
Under the old screening method, for instance, HIV was detectable in the blood about 22 days after infection. With the new methods, HIV can be found in the blood 11 days after infection, decreasing the likelihood of contaminated blood entering the blood supply.
And now the bad news about the new disease called SARS. This could be big. Stay tuned.
Mystery Illness Continues to Spread
1 hour, 20 minutes ago Add Health - AP to My Yahoo!
By TOM COHEN, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 20 minutes ago Add Health - AP to My Yahoo!
By TOM COHEN, Associated Press Writer
TORONTO - A mystery illness with no known treatment continued to spread through Asia and Canada on Sunday, killing three more people and infecting many others as officials warned it may be more contagious than originally thought.
Hong Kong health officials said 60 more people had fallen ill with a deadly flu-like disease, more than half of them in one apartment complex, pushing the number of infections worldwide past 1,600. Singapore's health minister, Lim Hng Kiang, said the disease may spread more easily than first believed.
The World Health Organization said severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, has killed at least 54 people worldwide, with the majority of cases in Hong Kong and China.
Authorities have declared a health emergency in Toronto, located 50 miles from the U.S. border. U.S. health officials have reported 62 cases in the United States. So far, four people have died from the illness in Toronto, the latest was reported Sunday. In addition, about 100 probable or suspect cases have been reported. Officials have closed two hospitals to new patients, and hundreds of people have been quarantined in their homes.
The United States and Canada have advised people to avoid travel to afflicted areas in Asia, and the World Health Organization recommended that international travelers from Toronto and several Asian cities get screened for symptoms.
Most of the new cases reported Sunday came from Hong Kong's Amoy Gardens apartment complex, where a victim recently spread the disease, according to a Health Department statement. Some frightened residents have moved out and medical teams have gone through the apartments to check for SARS — while some minibus drivers won't even stop there anymore.
The above is not meant to be medical advice. Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc.
Best wishes. Dr. Rehert
Best wishes. Dr. Rehert
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