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CDC Dispatch re: WNV & Blood Transfusions (Oct 28, 2002)
Date:
Tue, 29 Oct 2002
Posted by:
Lois Levitan (lcl3@cornell.edu)
To date (Aug 28-Oct 26) CDC has received reports of 47 persons with possible transfusion-related WNV infection. Of these, 14 either did not have WNV infection or did not acquire WNV infection through transfusion; 6 of the cases provide evidence that WNV can be transmitted through blood transfusion; investigations are ongoing for the other 27 cases.
The 33 cases (reported from 17 states) are people who had confirmed or probable WNV infection and had received blood components in the month before illness onset. Evidence from 3 of these cases was reported in the Sept 20 and Sept 27 MMWR (references 1, 2 of the current publication) and summarized in the Oct 16 MMWR.
The 3 cases first reported in this dispatch are all people under treatment for malignancies who acquired WNV infection through transfusion.
This information is summarized from the Oct 28, 2002 CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Dispatch (Vol 51), "Investigations of West Nile Virus Infections in Recipients of Blood Transfusions." Full text: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/wk/CDC_Dispatch_10-28-02.pdf and http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/dispatch_westnile.htm. For more on this topic, history and links to earlier CDC and other publications, see: http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/erap/WNV/FAQs.cfm.
[NOTE: I find it interesting and curious that all of the blood donors in the cases providing evidence that WNV can be transmitted via blood transfusions seem to have developed symptoms of WNV after donating blood. If this observation is correct, what might it imply re: the approximately 1 infected person in 5 who becomes symptomatic, as compared with those who do not? -- LCL]
-- Lois Levitan, PhD Program Leader Environmental Risk Analysis Program Center for the Environment 213 Rice Hall, Cornell University Ithaca, New York USA 14853-5601 Phone: (607) 255-4765 Fax: (607) 255-0238 Email: LCL3@cornell.edu Program Email: envrisk@cornell.edu Web:http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/ERAP-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WESTNILEVIRUS-L is an email discussion group for communication and discussion about West Nile Virus, particularly regarding policy, risk reduction and public education issues. It is moderated by Dr. Lois Levitan at Cornell University's Center for the Environment. To subscribe (or unsubscribe), send an email request to envrisk@cornell.edu. Subscribers are encouraged to post to the group by sending an email to: WESTNILEVIRUS-L@cornell.edu. Please send only unformatted text, without attachments. Archives are posted at: http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/erap/WNV/WNV-LArchiveIndex.cfm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------