CDC Confirms West Nile From Organs
CDC Confirms West Nile From Organs
What Does This Mean for Our Blood Supply?
West Nile virusorgan transplantsblood
But officials are skeptical that these new patients caught the virus from the transfused blood because all four of them live in areas with high levels of West Nile-carrying mosquitoes. They probably caught the disease from a mosquito.
All these cases do, however, call the safety of our nation's blood supply into question.
In the first four cases, the organ donor had received multiple blood transfusions before dying from injuries sustained in a car accident. The Georgia woman had received several blood transfusions in the unsuccessful effort to save her life. It's not clear whether she got the virus from the transfusions or from a mosquito bite prior to the accident. Her organs were then donated -- and West Nile developed in four people who received her organs.
There's no test that tells whether donated organs or blood carry West Nile virus. Yet experts insist that U.S. blood transfusions and organ transplants are safe. The reason: infectious West Nile virus doesn't remain in the body for long. If people aren't sick from the virus, their immune systems likely are keeping the infection in check. And those who are sick would be rejected as blood donors.
"I think that somebody needing a transfusion should not spend a lot of time worrying about this," Paul Ness, MD, past president of the American Association of Blood Banks and director of transfusion medicine at Johns Hopkins medical center, tells WebMD. "The risks of transfusion overall have decreased markedly in the last few years. If there is a strong medical need for a transfusion, the risk of not getting it is far higher than the very remote risk of West Nile infection."
A person gets West Nile virus from the bite of a mosquito that has recently bitten an infected bird. The FDA notes that even blood transfusions are unlikely to transmit the virus. That's because standard blood processing kills other viruses similar to the West Nile virus. However, an organ transplant appears to be a special case. People who get transplants have to take drugs to keep their immune systems from rejecting the donated organs. These drugs suppress the immune system, increasing vulnerability to viruses hiding in the organs.
CDC Confirms West Nile From Organs
What Does This Mean for Our Blood Supply?
West Nile virusorgan transplantsblood
But officials are skeptical that these new patients caught the virus from the transfused blood because all four of them live in areas with high levels of West Nile-carrying mosquitoes. They probably caught the disease from a mosquito.
All these cases do, however, call the safety of our nation's blood supply into question.
In the first four cases, the organ donor had received multiple blood transfusions before dying from injuries sustained in a car accident. The Georgia woman had received several blood transfusions in the unsuccessful effort to save her life. It's not clear whether she got the virus from the transfusions or from a mosquito bite prior to the accident. Her organs were then donated -- and West Nile developed in four people who received her organs.
There's no test that tells whether donated organs or blood carry West Nile virus. Yet experts insist that U.S. blood transfusions and organ transplants are safe. The reason: infectious West Nile virus doesn't remain in the body for long. If people aren't sick from the virus, their immune systems likely are keeping the infection in check. And those who are sick would be rejected as blood donors.
"I think that somebody needing a transfusion should not spend a lot of time worrying about this," Paul Ness, MD, past president of the American Association of Blood Banks and director of transfusion medicine at Johns Hopkins medical center, tells WebMD. "The risks of transfusion overall have decreased markedly in the last few years. If there is a strong medical need for a transfusion, the risk of not getting it is far higher than the very remote risk of West Nile infection."
A person gets West Nile virus from the bite of a mosquito that has recently bitten an infected bird. The FDA notes that even blood transfusions are unlikely to transmit the virus. That's because standard blood processing kills other viruses similar to the West Nile virus. However, an organ transplant appears to be a special case. People who get transplants have to take drugs to keep their immune systems from rejecting the donated organs. These drugs suppress the immune system, increasing vulnerability to viruses hiding in the organs.
