Friday 28 September 2018

Contaminated blood scandal: Where does the UK's blood supply come from now?

Contaminated blood scandal: Where does the UK's blood supply come from now? The UK government has apologised to victims of a scandal that involved thousands being infected with HIV and hepatitis viruses from blood products imported from the US in the 1970s and 1980s.

It has become known as the contaminated blood scandal.

The patients in question, most of whom had haemophilia - a blood disorder caused by a lack of clotting agents in the blood - were actually infected with a product derived from blood called Factor 8.

It is one of the proteins found in plasma (the clear liquid making up most of our blood's volume) which is involved in clotting.

So where does the UK source its blood products from currently and how are they screened? BBC News

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