Transfusion patients risk AIDS
American scientists are scouring the country for the first case of the bizarre new disease 鈥渁cquired immuno-deficiency syndrome鈥� (AIDS) in patients who have undergone major surgery. The hunt for the cause of the disease, which was first diagnosed among male homosexuals, has now labelled as a prime suspect some unknown blood-borne virus. In just one year the list of people at risk from AIDS has lengthened from male homosexuals, drug-abusers and Haitians, to include the entire population. In the last year a task force under Dr Harold Jaffe at the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, has found seven cases of AIDS among haemophiliacs who do not fall into any of the other categories. Jaffe believes that the spread of the disease may be connected with the new preparations of factor VIII concentrate 鈥� the blood-clotting agent given to haemophiliacs 鈥� which are made up from blood from large numbers of donors, rather than one individual. If this is correct, any patient who is given a blood transfusion could be at risk. No cases of AIDS among British haemophiliacs have been reported so far 鈥� even though 50 per cent of the factor VIII used in Britain is from the US.
From New 杏吧原创, 3 February 1983
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