New Flu Victim: Blood Supply

Doctors are now afraid of the blood supply in relation to the Swine Flu for two reasons:
1. The swine flu may be transmitted through the blood;
2. Less people are giving blood because of the swine flu and if the flu hits us hard then we may not have enough blood in the bank for every day medical needs.

A number of blood centers are reporting an unusual drop in collections because too many potential donors are sick with the H1N1 virus, or swine flu. Some blood drives in high schools and corporate offices have had to be scaled back or canceled because of high levels of absenteeism.

Another problem: Some centers say a growing number of donors are calling a day or two after giving blood to say they've come down with flu-like symptoms, forcing the centers to dispose of the blood as part of government regulations. Researchers in a government-funded study are testing samples of these donors' blood for viremia, the medical term for virus in the blood.

Unlike infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C and West Nile virus, colds and flu aren't believed to be transmitted by blood. But some studies indicate that more virulent strains can be present in the blood before flu symptoms show up. "When you get into strains that are pandemic, the rules don't necessarily apply," says Matthew Kuehnert, director of the Office of Blood, Organ and other Tissue Safety at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This article shows just another ancillary problem of this flu. I'm still on the fence of whether this is just overblown hype or not but why would all the people working at blood banks lie?

Your thoughts?

online.wsj.com...

Edit - to add link.... OOPS!! I almost forgot to....

[edit on 10-11-2009 by really]

I don't think it's hype. My guess would be that the shorter the storage time for the blood, the more likely transmission would be. Could the virus replicate in the white blood cells present in whole blood?

reply to post by butcherguy


I'm not sure. That's a good question. I think that's part of the worry. Another worry is, as far as they know, influenza/colds cannot be transferred in a blood transfer but they are unsure about this influenza. They are running tests now, apparently, to make sure. Either way, blood donation is down more than usual for this type of year and if we have a situation like the Ukraine does right now, our blood supplies will be worn down from normal every day medical needs and few will be donating blood to refill the banks.

No discussion on this topic, at all! How disappointing.... How about if nazi, communist aliens were stealing our blood supply?

Find some link to a kook on youtube that blames the illuminati or the government for engineering the virus so that it can be passed through the blood supply and you've got a killer thread. Especially if there is absolutely zero hard data or credibility! I gave you a star for the find, another interesting story in the strange and winding swine flu saga.

reply to post by butcherguy


HAHAHA!!! I was thinking the same thing, man. Oh well, I better start reading up on more.... imaginative and fantastic topics if I want to get lots of stars and flags. OR, topics that get a lot of hate and fear out of people.....
Thanks for the star, Butcher.

reply to post by really


I gave blood about a month ago... they come to my workplace every now and then for a blood drive. Anyway, we barely had enough volunteers to get them to come. Participation was WAY low compared to previous blood drives. They told us that it was like that almost everywhere they go these days because of all this H1N1 stuff.

reply to post by gemineye


Aha!! Gemineye, welcome. Would you like some refreshments?
That's crazy. I'm no longer allowed to give blood. I'm American but live in London when the whole Mad Cow scare was happening. So, unless they find a cure for it, I'm tainted goods, apparently.
Well, this just shows you how even if H1N1 never lives up to the hype it's going to negatively affect a lot of different parts of every day life - the economy, medical care, etc.

[edit on 10-11-2009 by really]