BLOOD, RUINED LIVERS, AND… "Ironically, blood-borne AIDS … has never been as great a threat as other diseases—hepatitis, for instance," explained the Washington Post. Yes, vast numbers have got very sick and have died from such hepatitis, which has no specific treatment. According to U.S.News & World Report (May 1, 1989), about 5 percent of those given blood in the United States get hepatitis—175,000 people a year. About half become chronic carriers, and at least 1 in 5 develop cirrhosis or cancer of the liver. It is estimated that 4,000 die. Imagine the headlines you would read if a jumbo jet crashed, killing all aboard. But 4,000 deaths amount to a full jumbo jet crashing every month! Physicians had long known that a milder hepatitis (type A) was spread through unclean food or water. Then they saw that a more serious form was spreading through blood, and they had no way to screen blood for it. Eventually, brilliant scientists learned how to detect "footprints" of this virus (type B). By the early 1970's, blood was being screened in some lands. The blood supply appeared safe and the future for blood bright! Or was it? Before long it was clear that BLOOD, RUINED LIVERS, AND… "Ironically, blood-borne AIDS … has never been as great a threat as other diseases—hepatitis, for instance," explained the Washington Post. Yes, vast numbers have got very sick and have died from such hepatitis, which has no specific treatment. According to U.S.News & World Report (May 1, 1989), about 5 percent of those given blood in the United States get hepatitis—175,000 people a year. About half become chronic carriers, and at least 1 in 5 develop cirrhosis or cancer of the liver. It is estimated that 4,000 die. Imagine the headlines you would read if a jumbo jet crashed, killing all aboard. But 4,000 deaths amount to a full jumbo jet crashing every month! Physicians had long known that a milder hepatitis (type A) was spread through unclean food or water. Then they saw that a more serious form was spreading through blood, and they had no way to screen blood for it. Eventually, brilliant scientists learned how to detect "footprints" of this virus (type B). By the early 1970's, blood was being screened in some lands. The blood supply appeared safe and the future for blood bright! Or was it? Before long it was clear that thousands who were given screened blood still developed hepatitis. Many, after debilitating illness, learned that their livers were ruined. But if the blood had been tested, why was this happening? The blood contained another form, called non-A, non-B hepatitis (NANB). For a decade it plagued transfusions—between 8 and 17 percent of those transfused in Israel, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden, and the United States contracted it. Then came headlines such as "Mysterious Hepatitis Non-A, Non-B Virus Isolated at Last"; "Breaking a Fever in the Blood." Again, the message was, 'The elusive agent is found!' In April 1989, the public was told that a test was available for NANB, now being called hepatitis C. You might wonder if this relief is premature. In fact, Italian researchers have reported another hepatitis virus, a mutant, which might be responsible for a third of the cases. "Some authorities," the Harvard Medical School Health Letter (November 1989) observed, "worry that A, B, C, and D are not the whole alphabet of hepatitis viruses; yet others may emerge." The New York Times (February 13, 1990) stated: "Experts strongly suspect that other viruses can cause hepatitis; if discovered, they will be designated hepatitis E and so on." Are blood banks faced with more long searches for tests to make blood safe? Citing the problem of cost, a director of the American Red Cross made this disturbing comment: "We can't just keep adding test after test for each infectious agent that might be spread."—Medical World News, May 8, 1989. Even the test for hepatitis B is fallible; many still contract it from blood. Moreover, will people be satisfied with the announced test for hepatitis C? The Journal of the American Medical Association (January 5, 1990) showed that a year can pass before antibodies of the disease are detectable by the test. Meanwhile, people transfused with the blood may face ruined livers—and death. who were given screened blood still developed hepatitis. Many, after debilitating illness, learned that their livers were ruined. But if the blood had been tested, why was this happening? The blood contained another form, called non-A, non-B hepatitis (NANB). For a decade it plagued transfusions—between 8 and 17 percent of those transfused in Israel, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden, and the United States contracted it. Then came headlines such as "Mysterious Hepatitis Non-A, Non-B Virus Isolated at Last"; "Breaking a Fever in the Blood." Again, the message was, 'The elusive agent is found!' In April 1989, the public was told that a test was available for NANB, now being called hepatitis C. You might wonder if this relief is premature. In fact, Italian researchers have reported another hepatitis virus, a mutant, which might be responsible for a third of the cases. "Some authorities," the Harvard Medical School Health Letter (November 1989) observed, "worry that A, B, C, and D are not the whole alphabet of hepatitis viruses; yet others may emerge." The New York Times (February 13, 1990) stated: "Experts strongly suspect that other viruses can cause hepatitis; if discovered, they will be designated hepatitis E and so on." Are blood banks faced with more long searches for tests to make blood safe? Citing the problem of cost, a director of the American Red Cross made this disturbing comment: "We can't just keep adding test after test for each infectious agent that might be spread."—Medical World News, May 8, 1989. Even the test for hepatitis B is fallible; many still contract it from blood. Moreover, will people be satisfied with the announced test for hepatitis C? The Journal of the American Medical Association (January 5, 1990) showed that a year can pass before antibodies of the disease are detectable by the test. Meanwhile, people transfused with the blood may face ruined livers—and death.
It is not hard to see why an increasing number of well informed persons are choosing alternative bloodless treatment.
