The use of purified clotting factor concentrates in hemophilia
Article Abstract:
The lives of patients with hemophilia have been significantly improved after the development in the 1960s of a means of collecting antihemophilic factor (blood coagulation Factor VIII) from pooled blood plasma to effectively manage even significant bleeding episodes. These cold-precipitated products continued to be used throughout the 1970s, when concern arose about Hepatitis B and Hepatitis non-A non-B (NANB) infections in hemophiliacs. Infections generally resulted from the use of contaminated blood products. The emergence of the AIDS virus has overshadowed the problems with hepatitis, and at this time the leading cause of death of patients with hemophilia is AIDS, surpassing bleeding. While originally the course of AIDS infection was thought to be different and less virulent for the hemophiliac, the rate of progression to AIDS from infection for a seropositive individual appears no different from other risk groups, such as homosexual men and drug abusers. New methods of preparation are able to significantly reduce and perhaps eliminate the risk of acquiring AIDS or hepatitis, but the cost is as much as 10 times the 1987 cost for purified clotting factor concentrates. Coupled with the high cost is an inadequate supply of these products. New production techniques and clotting factor produced in the laboratory by recombinant DNA will likely eliminate what is hoped will prove a transient, albeit serious medical problem.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1989
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Hepatitis A among persons with hemophilia who received clotting factor concentrate - United States, September-December 1995
Article Abstract:
People with hemophilia who take clotting factor should be tested for hepatitis A infection if they develop symptoms of hepatitis. Between September and December, 1995, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received reports of three hemophiliacs who developed hepatitis A after receiving factor VIII and one who developed hepatitis A after receiving factor IX. All of the people with factor VIII hemophilia had received Alphanate factor VIII concentrate with the same lot number. This lot number, AP5014A, was withdrawn from the market in December, 1995. A sample of clotting factor from that lot number tested positive for hepatitis A virus, as did blood samples from one patient and stool samples from another. The viral strain isolated from the clotting factor was identical to the strain isolated from two patients. The clotting factor was prepared using a solvent-detergent viral inactivation step, which has been linked to outbreaks of hepatitis A in Europe.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1996
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Transmission of hepatitis C virus infection associated with home infusion therapy for hemophilia
Article Abstract:
Families who provide home infusion therapy for various diseases should follow strict infection control procedures to avoiding contracting a blood-borne disease. The mother of a four-year-old child with hemophilia was taught to administer blood clotting factor concentrate through an infusion. On at least two occasions, the mother pricked her finger on the needle and drew blood. The mother did not wear gloves during the procedure and had a history of intravenous drug abuse. The child contracted the hepatitis C virus and testing revealed that the mother was also positive. It is likely that she transmitted the virus to her child.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1997
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