TRANSMISSION OF SYMPTOMATIC PARVOVIRUS B19 INFECTION BY CLOTTING FACTOR CONCENTRATE

The risk of acquiring diseases from transfusion of blood and blood pro ducts is well recognized and the issue of parvovirus in haemophiliacs is not a new one. We report two patients with haemophilia acquiring ia trogenic parvovirus B19 infection, resulting in life-threatening sepsi s in one, an immunocompetent adult. Over the last 10 years there has b een great progress in manufacturing safer products with regard to enve loped viruses such as HIV, hepatitis B and C, A recent outbreak across Europe of hepatitis A in haemophiliacs treated with plasma-derived fa ctor VIII concentrates has made haemophilic treaters concerned about t he known (parvovirus B19 and hepatitis A) and the unknown nonlipid env eloped viruses that may be contained in the clotting factor concentrat es, because these are resistant to the existing viral inactivating tec hniques. The possibility of HIV itself mutating into a non-lipid envel oped virus emphasizes the need to seek and use safer products.