Inside health: One unlucky man or time bomb?

Published on Wednesday 18 February 2009 20:57

THE first case of a haemophilia patient contracting vCJD from contaminated blood plasma was confirmed this week.

The news has increased the fears of haemophiliacs, who have already had to endure the trauma of being exposed to HIV and hepatitis C before controls were introduced to prevent this.

They said the case also raised questions about the remit of the Penrose Inquiry – the Scottish investigation into the infection of people with hepatitis C and HIV through blood and blood products.

News of the vCJD case – an elderly man who died of other causes – first emerged in leaked reports. But the Health Protection Agency refused to confirm or deny them until Tuesday, leaving patients wondering where to go for help and advice over the weekend.

Warnings about the potential risk from vCJD were first given to haemophiliacs in 2004, but the danger of infection was believed to be small because of the processing and dilution of plasma products before they are given to patients. However, the news of an actual case makes the risks all the more real.

One Scottish haemophiliac said the Penrose Inquiry now needed to be widened to include the risks from vCJD.

He also said that the latest development strengthened the case for proper compensation to be given to those who received the contaminated blood plasma, which is used to clot the blood.

"We are a unique group of patients," the man said. "Nobody else has been through this hell. What else do we have to go through before we get the compensation we deserve?"

Since the risks of vCJD being passed through blood products were first raised, extra precautions have been put in place to protect the blood supply service. As there is currently no reliable test for the infection – the human form of mad cow disease – these precautions are likely to remain in place for some time.

A medical expert told The Scotsman the chances of someone being exposed to vCJD through the blood service now were very small because of the extra measures. But he said it was difficult to say what the new case would mean for other people already exposed to contaminated blood products.

"Until we know more level of detail, we can't put a risk-assessment number on it as to whether this is one very unfortunate case and it won't be repeated, or whether this is a little time bomb," he said.