§ Lord WarnerMy right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Health has made the following Written Ministerial Statement today.
My Statement on 17 December 2003 informed the House of the first case of possible transmission of vCJD via blood transfusion and the actions taken as a result of this case to protect future blood supplies. I promised then to provide updates on any major changes.
My Statement of 16 March 2004 indicated that the Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Blood and Tissue for Transplantation (MSBT) had met at my request to consider whether further measures were needed. The recommendations were to exclude from donating blood anyone who had previously received transfusions of whole blood components since January 1980. These measures were introduced with effect from 5 April 2004.
MSBT met again on 29 June to review experience of these measures. The committee recommended tightening the exclusion criteria for two groups who have similarly received transfusions of whole blood components since 53WS January 1980: previously transfused apheresis donors; and donors who were unsure if they had previously had a blood transfusion.
Apheresis donors are a small pool of committed donors who make frequent attendances to donate blood, where machine processing removes only certain blood components and the rest is returned to the donor.
When actions were taken in April 2004 to exclude certain donors, neither of these groups was excluded until any potential impact on the blood supply became clearer.
In the light of experience since the exclusions came into effect, MSBT has now advised that these groups can be excluded without adverse impact on the blood supply. These new exclusions will take effect from 2 August.
In a separate development, a second case of possible vCJD prion transmission via blood transfusion has now been confirmed. A patient in the UK received a transfusion of blood in 1999 from a donor who subsequently developed vCJD. Though the patient died of causes unrelated to vCJD, abnormal prion protein has been found in spleen tissue. This patient had a genetic type that differs from that so far found in patients who have developed vCJD.
I understand that a detailed account of the case will be appearing soon in the medical journal the Lancet. This new finding was referred to the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC) and MSBT for expert advice. SEAC agreed that this second patient with apparent vCJD infection added to the evidence that the vCJD agent can be transmitted by blood. MSBT concurred with this view, and has advised that no additional public health measures are required to protect the blood supply. This confirms the precautionary approach set out in my Statement of 17 December.