Blood service plans to tighten vCJD restrictions

THE Irish Blood Transfusion Service intends to introduce tighter restrictions on donations early next year to further reduce the risk of vCJD being transmitted through blood.

People who lived in Britain for five years or more between 1980 and 1996 are currently excluded from giving blood. IBTS national medical director Willie Murphy said it plans to exclude donors who lived in Britain for only 12 months during this period.

Dr Murphy, speaking at the launch of the blood bank’s 2001 report, said there was no clinical proof vCJD is transmitted through blood but the measure was being introduced as a precaution.