kgdykes@watbun.UUCP (09/15/85)
VANCOUVER (CP) - ...[Dr. John] Derrick, director of the Red Cross's
AIDS project, made the statement from the floor during a panel discussion
at the annual meeting of the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of
Canada.
...He said the Red Cross will run its own tests to confirm the result
is not a "false positive".
...When donors go to a Red Cross clinic after the screening test is
in place in November, they will be told that a number of tests will be
done on their blood including tests for infectious diseases. Donors will
then be told they will be told of irregularities.
...If the test proves positive the first time, it will be held so it
doesn't get used for transfusion. It will be re-tested a number of times
and if the results are still positive, the blood will be sent to the
Red Cross's central laboratory for further tests.
If those tests are positive, donors will be informed that for an
un-specified reason, their blood cannot be used and no further donations
will be accepted.
The Red Cross will then ask the donor to name a physician to send test
results to.
...Panelist Dr. Penny Ballem, deputy director of the B.C. and Yukon
blood transfusion service, said the number of false positives may be
as high as eight in a 1,000.
The concern is that those who are false positives will unnecessarily
be faced with fear and trauma over the possibility that they could
develop the fata acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
Panelist Dr. Paul Volberding, director of the AIDS clinic in San
Francisco, said donors should be informed. While there is concern about
false positives, most of them are women.
"The men are usually truly positive."
...
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- Ken Dykes
Software Development Group, U. of Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. N2L 3G1 (+1 519) 885 1211
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