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How Safe Is Safe Enough? New Infections and the U.S. Blood Supply
- S. Jody Heymann, MD, PhD;
- Timothy F. Brewer, MD, MPH;
- Harvey V. Fineberg, MD, PhD; and
- Mary E. Wilson, MD
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Harvard School of Public Health
Boston, MA 02115 -
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, MA 02114 -
Harvard School of Public Health
Boston, MA 02115 -
Mount Auburn Hospital
Cambridge, MA 02238
Excerpt
Recently, 14 patients who were negative for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) types 1 and 2 were found to have T-lymphocytopenia. The possibility has been raised that at least one of the cases may be associated with retroviral particles (1, 2). These developments have raised questions about the safety of the U.S. blood supply and current transfusion practices.
While the uncertainty about the cause of the reported cases of idiopathic immunodeficiency is being resolved, physicians and patients must continue to make difficult decisions about transfusions. We need to be able to answer these questions: If the cause is infectious and the
This 100-word excerpt has been provided in the absence of an abstract.
Article and Author Information
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Requests for Reprints: Timothy F. Brewer, MD, MPH, Infectious Disease Unit, Gray 5, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114.
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Current Author Addresses: Dr. Heymann: Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck Street, Boston, MA 02115.
Dr. Brewer: Infectious Disease Unit, Gray 5, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114.
Dr. Fineberg: Office of the Dean, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115.
Dr. Wilson: Department of Infectious Diseases, Mount Auburn Hospital, 330 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA 02238.
