Over 1,000 transfusions of contaminated blood
September 10, 2005 ㅡ Blood contaminated by diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and dysentery has been used in 1,206 blood transfusion cases, according to the Korean Red Cross.
Lawmaker Jeon Jae-hee of the Grand National Party yesterday presented data from the Korean Red Cross, containing records of 130,000 patients who had contagious diseases between 2003 and July of this year. Of those, 549 had donated blood.
The donated blood was transfused to 1,206 people and 541 packs provided for medical or pharmaceutical purposes. Of the 1,206 blood transfusion cases, 22 patients received blood contaminated with malaria. The Red Cross is currently investigating whether the recipients of the blood were infected with the disease. As of now, four people have been infected indirectly with malaria through blood transfusion: two cases in 1998, one in 2000 and one in 2001.
The Red Cross has been conducting blood screening for malaria since September 2000 in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces. However, the blood of the four donors somehow slipped through the process. “Even if blood is infected with malaria, it takes about two weeks to two months to appear in results,” a Red Cross official said.
Blood from 270 tuberculosis patients was also transfused to 622 people and that of 198 donors with mumps was given to 485 people. In the cases other than malaria, the Red Cross has not investigated whether the diseases were transferred. “In other countries, transfers did not occur in blood transfusions of contagious diseases, with the exception of malaria, AIDS, and hepatitis, so there is no problem,” a Red Cross official said.
“This happened because donors were not properly questioned in the process of donation and because the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention did not report the list of patients with contagious diseases to the Red Cross,” Ms. Jeon criticized.