Blood donation crisis for Red Cross
3 November, 2000
The Australian Red Cross Blood Service fears that its blood supplies will not fulfil demand following worldwide concerns over the spread of variant Creuzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD).
vCJD is thought to be contracted by eating meat infected with the abnormal protein that causes BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy–commonly known as ‘mad cow disease’).
The Service has introduced a deferral policy for blood donors who have spent a cumulative period of 6 months in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands or Isle of Man between 1 January 1980 and 31 December 1996. This also includes those who are vegetarians.
This will leave the Service with a 5 per cent loss in blood donations amounting to 25,000 to 30,000 people.
The Service has been undertaking a major campaign to try to fill the shortfall, including a national mailout to 550,000 donors from the past 2 years to urge those who have to be deferred to notify the Service as soon as possible. According to the Australian Red Cross Blood Service's Carol O'Shea, the deferred donors are being asked to find someone to take their place, while existing donors are being asked to ‘bring a mate’ the next time they give blood. In addition, those who regularly donate once a year are being asked to double their contribution.
The Red Cross Blood Service says that although there has not been a single case of vCJD transmitted by blood transfusion in Australia or anywhere in the world, Australia has followed the United States, Canada and New Zealand in this precautionary measure.
‘At this stage, the deferral will be indefinite, as no test has been developed to detect vCJD in blood,’ Ms O’Shea concluded.
Last Reviewed: 03 April 2001
