Vol. 517 No. 3
188 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children his views, if any, on the situation where it has been revealed that the latest PCR test does not totally remove the risk of hepatitis C in donated blood; and the discussions, if any, he will have with the Blood Transfusion Service Board about this matter. [9553/00]
220 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will make a statement on a recent German report that the PCR tests do not totally remove the risk of hepatitis C in donated blood; and the discussions, if any, he has had with the Blood Transfusion Service Board on the contents of this report. [9998/00]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 188 and 220 together.
PCR testing for the hepatitis C virus is currently performed on all blood donations collected by the Blood Transfusion Service Board. PCR testing for the hepatitis C virus represents a significant increase in safety and shortens the period between the time of infection of a donor and the time when the screening test for infection in the donor becomes positive, known as the window period of the infection. The typical length of the window period without PCR testing is ten to 14 weeks. Following introduction of PCR testing, this window period is reduced to approximately two weeks. Although this represents a considerable increase in safety, it does not reduce the risk of hepatitis C infection from blood transfusion to zero, and no technique is currently available anywhere that completely removes the risk of hepatitis C infection from blood transfusion.
In the recent case in Germany I understand that a donor escaped detection through PCR testing because the donation was made at a very early stage in infection, before it was detectable even by the PCR test.
