Audit found flaws in Okinawa hospital's
screening of blood for hepatitis B
By Mark Oliva, Okinawa
bureau
CAMP LESTER — An internal audit of the blood bank at the U.S. Naval Hospital on
Okinawa revealed as many as 1,200 units of blood weren’t properly screened for
hepatitis B, a viral infection that attacks the liver.
Hospital officials recently completed mailing letters to the blood donors and 80
transfusion recipients, urging them to be screened for the virus, said Navy Lt. Cmdr.
Alison Knight, director of the Joint Blood Program office here.
All but 10 donors and five recipients responded to the letters. Hospital officials are
required to make two more attempts to contact those donors and recipients, according to
Food and Drug Administration standards. So far, none who were contacted reported testing
positive for the disease.
Knight said some of the suspected blood was frozen for future use, but all has since
been removed from stock and destroyed.
"Very quickly we got our arms around this and worked with the FDA," Knight
said. "Immediately, when it was found, we stopped to retrain our technicians."
In June 1998, hospital officials discovered the flawed testing methods had occurred
between 1993 and 1998, a period during which as many as 12,000 units of blood were drawn,
Knight said. The problem apparently occurred when portions of test kits were being used
with other test kits, which may have skewed the results.
Donated blood is routinely subjected to tests for seven separate infectious diseases.
As many as eight audits by agencies outside the Naval Hospital failed to detect the
deviation in the testing procedures that eventually was caught by a technician within the
hospital. Knight called it a "very serious matter."
Numerous inspections have been conducted since the testing deviation was discovered,
and "we are happy with the progress," Knight said.
"We’re recommending (donors and transfusion recipients) do get tested for
their own peace of mind," she said.
"We take it very seriously … when we draw a unit, we’re required to
monitor that unit from the cradle to the grave. It is a very serious matter."
Hepatitis B is a viral infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, that attacks the liver and can be a lifelong infection, causing scarring,
cirrhosis, liver cancer, liver failure and even death.
Incidents are rare among the military blood donation pool, said Navy Capt. Jimmy Green,
senior pathologist at the U.S. Naval Hospital on Okinawa.
Only about one in 100,000 people in the United States tests positive for hepatitis B,
and occurrance within the military ranks is even more rare, he said. Active-duty
servicemembers are required to be immunized by a three-shot series with a booster shot
follow-up every two years.
Hepatitis B infection symptoms include flu-like symptoms and a yellowing of the eyes
and skin, Green said. But symptoms don’t appear in all people who contract the virus.
Knight said the blood supply at the U.S. Naval Hospital is safe.
"We took an ultra-conservative approach when we found a minor deviation," she
said. "We’re just as safe as any blood bank in the States."
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