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May 23rd, 2003 World Health Organisation issue recommendations on SARS and blood safety In response to escalating concerns regarding the worldwide epidemic of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) the World Health Organisation (WHO) has released guidelines on SARS and blood safety. These recommendations, released May 15th 2003, state that although no SARS cases have been transmitted by labile blood products or plasma derivatives, there is at least a theoretical risk, especially for labile components as low levels of the virus have been detected in blood up to 10 days after the onset of symptoms. For labile products, such as red cells, fresh frozen plasma and platelets the WHO has proposed a number of precautionary principles including: - Deferral of blood donations from high risk donors such as those known to have had exposure to SARS or recent travel to high risk areas, - Establishment of Look-Back and recall procedures, - Tracing of recipients who have received blood /blood products from donors fulfilling the probable case definition of SARS. Click here to view the WHO guidelines. (Please note clicking this hyperlink will take you out of the www.octapharma.com domain) © Octapharma AG, 2003 |