The hepatitis viruses and HIV threaten the worldwide blood supply
Thousands of plasma donations were combined as starting material for one batch of plasma-derived factor VIII or factor IX concentrate, and by the early 1980s, human blood, plasma, and plasma-derived products were discovered to be transmitting potentially deadly blood-borne viruses, including hepatitis viruses and HIV.
Manufacturers of plasma derived clotting factor concentrates attempted to kill these viruses with dry heat, solvent-detergent treatment, and pasteurization, with varying degrees of success. By 1985, most patients with hemophilia in the U.S. had been switched to heat-treated concentrates, but many had already been infected with HIV and a large percentage of them succumbed to it. Great concern about the safety of plasma derived products continued in the hemophilia community.
3D generated illustration of HIV Aids virus cells for medical science background
