Guest guest Posted September 21, 2002 Report Share Posted September 21, 2002 JoAnn (angelprincessjo) thought you would be interested in this article from http://www.theglobeandmail.com Get today's news delivered to your in-box. Sign up for our daily News Update! http://www.globeandmail.com/newsletter/ --\ ------------ From globeandmail.com, Friday, September 20, 2002 West Nile survives in plasma, CDC says LUMA MUHTADIE With reports from Reuters and Canadian Press The potentially fatal West Nile virus can survive in some blood products and probably be transmitted from person to person through transfusions, U.S. health experts say. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed yesterday that the virus was found in a unit of fresh-frozen plasma given to a 24-year-old Mississippi woman who suffered postpartum bleeding last July. The woman later tested positive for the mosquito-borne disease. Authorities could not be certain the transfusions were the source of the woman's infection because she lives in an area where mosquitoes that spread the disease have been active. In Winnipeg, Harvey Artsob, chief of zoonotic diseases at Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory, confirmed that diagnostic tests on patients with West Nile have isolated the virus in their blood. But he also stressed that the virus is found in small quantities and survives only a short time in the blood. " We're talking about anywhere from one to six days, but almost always just a day or two, " he said. " That's a very small window of opportunity for the virus to survive during a transfusion. " There have been 23 probable and three confirmed human cases of West Nile in Canada this summer, including one that resulted in the death of a 70-year-old Mississauga man. The vast majority of these cases occurred in Ontario. The most recent probable case was identified yesterday by preliminary tests on a 21-year-old man from the Niagara Region. The man has already recovered and it is not known where he might have picked up the virus. Fears that West Nile, which can cause severe brain inflammation, could be transmitted through organ transplants and blood transfusions surfaced earlier this month when four organ recipients in the United States were found to be infected with the virus. While most people who acquire the West Nile virus show no signs of illness, others may experience mild flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache, body aches or swollen lymph glands. While there is as yet no way to screen blood for West Nile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it is working with blood banks and laboratories to develop a test. Visit the globeandmail.com Web Centre, your competitive edge for breaking news stories as they happen. News: http://www.globeandmail.com Books: http://www.globebooks.com Careers: http://www.workopolis.com Mutual Funds: http://www.globefund.com Stocks: http://www.globeinvestor.com ROB Magazine: http://www.robmagazine.com Technology: http://www.globetechnology.com ROBTv: http://www.robtv.com Wheels: http://www.globemegawheels.com Copyright 2002 | Bell Globemedia Interactive Inc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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