Blood bank officials hope donor altruism will pass new (anti-HCV) test
Article Abstract:
A new test for screening blood donations is expected to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and implemented in United States blood banks. The test will screen for hepatitis C virus (HCV), which is responsible for up to 90 percent of hepatitis cases traced to blood transfusions. Currently, there is an estimated 3 to 10 percent risk of getting hepatitis from a blood transfusion, which is substantially lower than the 33 percent risk in the early 1960s. If this infectious agent can be eliminated from the blood supply, it will be much safer to receive a blood transfusion. However, the HCV screening test has drawbacks. Some have estimated that the test has only a 39 percent accuracy in predicting true positives; it also has a very high rate of false positive results (up to 50 percent). Blood bank officials are concerned that potential donors will be reluctant to donate if they know their blood will be tested for yet another disease. Those with positive results may either suffer the needless anxiety involved in a false-positive report, or may discover that they have a serious disease. Hepatitis can be acute, or chronic and persistent, and some cases lead to cirrhosis and even liver cancer. There is also controversy concerning the use of the term hepatitis C interchangeably with non-A non-B hepatitis; some scientists believe that there are other infectious agents besides those designated A, B and C, and that unless C can be identified, the term non-A non-B must be used. Despite the many issues that need to be addressed before HCV screening can be implemented with confidence, some scientists have high hopes that the test will greatly improve the quality of the blood supply. The HCV screening test was introduced during 1989 in blood banks in some western European countries, Japan, and Australia. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1990
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Science ponders whether HIV acts alone or has another microbe's aid
Article Abstract:
An old debate over whether the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can itself be so virulent that it can kill its host by causing AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), or whether it has help from another microbe has been rekindled. At the Sixth International Conference on AIDS held in San Francisco, Dr. Jay Levy, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, presented more evidence on the organism he names the ''AIDS-related virus''. Levy and his colleagues have discovered that the strain of HIV from an infected person without symptoms is different from that of an AIDS patient. The difference is very slight (less than 3 percent of the genetic sequence) and, hopefully, this discovery will present helpful information towards preventing the change which results in the increased virulence of full-blown AIDS. The theory is simply that more virulent strains of HIV evolve in the host over time, and that various strains with predilections for specific organ systems also develop. Levy is now searching for the ''killer'' part of the virus and has narrowed down the location to the left-hand portion of the gp120 envelope. If the altered sequence can be located, it may be possible to design an antiviral therapy to address it. Dr. Luc Montagnier of the Pasteur Institute also believes that HIV has help in causing the virulence associated with AIDS, but he believes that it is due to a mycoplasma which enters the infected cell. Dr. Shyh-Ching Lo of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, DC, agrees with Montagnier that the Mycoplasma fermentans strain is somehow involved. Theories aside, the researchers agreed that they do not yet know how HIV causes AIDS, and that further study by all parties is essential. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1990
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Forum focuses on Hispanic-American health
Article Abstract:
A national conference to discuss issues of Hispanic-American health was recently attended by physicians and other professionals in health care and social services. The health problems of this group are difficult to address because the "Hispanic community" is really so diverse, including people from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, South and Central America and other regions as well. Some generalizations can be made, however. Hispanics, or Latinos as some prefer, are predominantly young, poor, and have obtained little education compared with the United States population as a whole. This ethnic group is also growing rapidly because of immigration and the tendency for Hispanic families to have more children than other population groups. By the year 2000, Hispanics are expected to number 30 million, making them the largest minority group in the US. Some health problems that affect many Hispanics are diabetes, obesity, drug use, violent crimes, cervical cancer, and dental caries (tooth decay) in children; the last two are frequent because many Hispanics do not get screened regularly. A major problem is that 33 percent of Hispanics have no medical insurance, in contrast to 15 percent of all Americans, even though most Hispanics are employed. Conference participants discussed ways to identify Hispanic health needs and allocate resources to meet these needs. One suggestion was to encourage Hispanic individuals to enter the health professions on all levels, which may help focus national attention on the needs of this group. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1990
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: Bronchial hyperresponsiveness to methacholine in patients with impaired left ventricular function. Improvement in exercise performance by inhalation of methoxamine in patients with impaired left ventricular function
- Abstracts: Incidence of uncomplicated genital infections in women using oral contraception or an intrauterine device: a prospective study
- Abstracts: Routine immunization for adults. Measles revaccination. Measles revaccination - an additional note
- Abstracts: Diagnosis and management of HIV-associated periodontal lesions. Clinical management of HIV-related periodontitis: report of case
- Abstracts: Knowledge of AIDS risk factors in South Bronx minority college students. Race/ethnicity as a risk factor for HIV-1 infection among Connecticut intravenous drug users