New DOD donor restrictions
spark efforts to boost blood supplies
By Sean E. Cobb,
Kaiserslautern bureau
Sean E. Cobb / Stars and Stripes
Taking inventory of the available blood supply is a critical duty for Army Spc. David
Bevan, a U. S. Army Europe Blood Donor Center medical laboratory technician. The center,
at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, is the only blood donor center in
USAREUR, according to center officials. The center currently has about 200 pints of blood
on hand and receives roughly 300 pints of blood a month. |
LANDSTUHL, Germany — Amid fears concerning the spread of mad cow disease to humans
through blood donations, the Department of Defense has set new standards for donors.
The new military standards will limit who can donate blood and could initially hurt the
military’s blood supply, military officials said.
According to military officials, the following cannot donate blood:
- Anyone who has lived in Europe for a total of more than six months before 1997.
- Anyone who has lived in Europe for more than five years since 1997.
- Anyone who lived in the United Kingdom for more than three months before 1997.
These standards follow guidelines released Monday by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration, the government body that oversees blood donations and safety.
But the standards are not as stringent as new guidelines set by the American Red Cross,
the nation’s No. 1 blood collector.
The goal of every group’s new standards — set to go into effect in
mid-September — is to limit the possibility of spreading Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease,
the human form of mad cow disease.
While the disease attacks the brain and leads to death, it often takes years before a
person shows any symptoms.
Furthermore, scientists have not confirmed if the deadly disease transfers through
human blood.
Proposed FDA rules
For implementation by May 31, 2002, deferral of donors who:
• Have spent three or more cumulative months in the United Kingdom
from the beginning of 1980 through the end of 1996, when controls designed to keep mad cow
disease out of the human food chain were fully implemented in the United Kingdom.
• Have spent five cumulative years or more in France from 1980 to
the present.
• Current or former U.S. military personnel, civilian military
employees and their dependents, who have lived for six months or more at U.S. military
bases in Northern Europe — Germany, United Kingdom, Belgium and the Netherlands
— from 1980 through 1990, and elsewhere in Europe — Greece, Turkey, Spain,
Portugal and Italy — from 1980 through 1996.
• Have received a blood transfusion in the United Kingdom between
1980 and the present.
For implementation by October 31, 2002, deferral of donors who:
• Have spent a cumulative total period of five years or more in
Europe from 1980 until the present.
Source: Food and Drug Administration
DOD donor rules
The following people will be restricted from donating blood at DOD blood
donation centers in mid-September:
• People who have at any time from 1980 through 1996, traveled or
resided in the United Kingdom for a total of three months or more; or from 1980 to
present, received a blood transfusion in the United Kingdom.
• People who have at any time from 1980 to 1996 traveled or resided
anywhere in Europe for a total of six months or more.
• People who at any time from Jan. 1, 1997 until now, traveled or
resided anywhere in Europe for a total of five years or more.
Source: Europe Regional
Medical Command
Red Cross policy
The American Red Cross will restrict the following people from donating
blood to the Red Cross:
• People who have lived in the United Kingdom for a cumulative
total of three months since 1980.
• People who have lived in any European country or combination of
countries (including the United Kingdom) for a cumulative total of six months since 1980.
• People who have received a blood transfusion in the United
Kingdom since 1980.
Source: American Red Cross
From staff reports |
Also, scientists cannot test blood donations for the disease.
"Transmission of [Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease] by human blood is theoretically
possible, although it has never been shown to occur," said Army Maj. David Reiber,
the U.S. European Command joint blood program officer.
"In fact, some of the people who have died from [the human form of mad cow
disease] were blood donors during their lives," he said. "A study of the
patients who received their blood shows no transmission of the disease."
However, scientists have found that the disease can transfer through blood supplies in
laboratory mice and hamsters, according to a Red Cross news release.
The Defense Department officials estimate that the difference in risk between its
standards and the Red Cross’ standards is just 1 percent, according to a recent Army
news release.
The FDA calculates that its criteria cut the risk of transferring the human form of mad
cow disease by 91 percent, the release stated.
The Red Cross’ standards improve that to 92 percent.
Reasons for the higher standard at the Red Cross, according to the organization’s
Web site include:
- Scientific uncertainty about the disease.
- Inability to screen blood for mad cow disease or its human form.
- A long latency period of 10 to 20 years.
- Transmission of the disease through blood is possible.
- The disease continues to spread, with more than 100 deaths attributed to mad cow disease
throughout Europe.
Developing the blood donor restrictions took more than a year, said Dr. Jerry Squires,
Red Cross vice president and chief scientist.
"We just want to make sure the blood supply is as safe as it can possibly
be," he said. "As we looked at the factors, we realized [mad cow disease] was
not restricted to the [United Kingdom], so we looked at the best way to minimize the
risk."
Since there is no blood test for mad cow disease, minimizing the risk meant limiting
donors on a geographic basis, Squires said.
The American Red Cross collects more than 6 million pints of blood a year — about
half of the total U.S. blood supply — according to Red Cross and FDA officials.
The FDA expressed concerns about shortages in the blood supply because of additional
restrictions in a recent report.
With up to 4.5 million Defense Department-associated employees exposed to mad cow
between 1980 and 1990, that would take a toll of about 2.2 percent of U.S. donors, the
report concluded.
In Europe, officials have already started looking for additional donors.
"During the time before implementation of the additional restrictions, we will
work to increase our blood collection capability." Reiber said. "We do not
anticipate shortages."
European Command collects about 4,000 pints of blood a year and uses between 700 and
1,000 pints of that, Reiber said.
Local hospitals get some of the surplus blood, and the rest is discarded or sent back
to military hospitals stateside, he said.
Blood typically has a shelf life of 42 days, according to a U.S.Army Europe Blood Donor
Center official.
The deputy director of the Armed Services Blood program, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Rebecca Sparks,
estimates the new restrictions will reduce the Defense Department’s donor pool by
about 18 percent. It needs about 100,000 units a year.
"We need a vigorous donor recruitment campaign, and that is currently under way,
Sparks said in a news release last week. "We are going to get out there and encourage
our DOD donors and beneficiaries to donate, so that we can make up this deficit."
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