Last year, it was discovered that a male patient who received a blood product made from blood donations at a domestic medical institution was infected with hepatitis B virus due to the administration.

According to the Japanese Red Cross Society, blood products donated by people who were found to be infected about 80 days earlier were used, but there is no risk of infection in multiple tests conducted based on national guidelines. Since we had decided that, we are planning to review our response.

According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, a domestic medical institution reported to the Japanese Red Cross Society that "a male patient in his 60s who received blood products in September last year developed hepatitis."



When the blood of the raw material was examined, hepatitis B virus was detected in one of them, and it was confirmed that hepatitis B virus was transmitted from the blood donation of this person.



The Japanese Red Cross Society is investigating whether the donated blood contains hepatitis B virus, etc. using a method called NAT = "nucleic acid amplification test", and this time, the person who donated blood donated blood in March last year. Infection was confirmed by the inspection at the time.

National guidelines require that if an infection is confirmed, blood donated by the same person may be tested and collected 72 days before.



However, the man donated blood 84 days ago, and multiple tests determined that there was no risk of infection, so the man's blood was not collected and caused the infection.



In response to this, the Japanese Red Cross Society has decided not to use all blood products made from blood donated in the past for blood transfusion if the person who donated blood is found to be infected.



In addition, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare will review the guidelines in consultation with experts.

JRCS "Take it seriously and respond immediately"

The Japanese Red Cross Society commented, "We are worried about patients and their families. We have decided that it is necessary to take this case seriously and take measures, and we will take immediate action." I am.

Why didn't the infection go through?

If a person infected with the hepatitis B virus continues to carry the virus in his body, it may progress to liver cancer or cirrhosis.



The Japanese Red Cross Society uses a method called NAT = "nucleic acid amplification test" to check the donated blood for hepatitis B virus and other viruses.



By amplifying a part of the virus gene about 100 million times, even a small amount of virus can be detected with high sensitivity, but immediately after infection, there are few viruses in the blood, so a period called "window period" that cannot be detected there is.



According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the person who donated blood this time made 18 blood donations by the end of the day, and all of them were negative in NAT, but last year, the 19th blood donation became positive for the first time.



Based on national guidelines, the Japanese Red Cross Society decided to re-examine and collect blood donated 72 days ago, which is twice the window period, by NAT, but the man donated 84 blood. It was a day ago.



We also conducted tests to see if we had been infected in the past, but because it was negative, we decided that the time of infection was recent and did not collect it.



The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare sees this as a rare case in the world that is infectious but cannot be detected by testing.



This issue was also reported to the national committee, and the experts who attended gave harsh opinions on the response of the Japanese Red Cross Society.



One of the doctors on the committee said, "I shouldn't have shipped it because it was out of the survey period specified in the guidelines, but I shouldn't have shipped it." I'm pointing out.