Viral link to ME/CFS & Australia's Blood Service

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Breaking News

Last Updated: April 21, 2010

Viral link to chronic

fatigue sparks blood donor

review By Danny Rose

From: AAP

April 20,

AUSTRALIA'S Red Cross Blood Service is reviewing its

donation guidelines following Canada's move to halt

donations from people who have ever had chronic

fatigue syndrome (CFS).

Canadian authorities took the precautionary step

earlier this month, based on US research that linked

CFS to a recently identified virus (XMRV) which would

be transmissible via infected blood.

Australia's blood service is conducting its own risk

analysis, and it says existing donor guidelines

require people with CFS to defer giving blood until

they make a full recovery.

" We are aware of recent developments in Canada, "

the Australian Red Cross Blood Service said today.

" We are undertaking our own risk analysis to assess

what action, if any, should be taken. "

The blood service said it takes more than 500,000

blood donations each year, but only 70 donors with

CFS had been deferred in the past two years.

It was standard practice to defer all potential donors

who were unwell, and in the case of people with CFS

they needed written advice from their GP before they

could be accepted as a donor.

" The blood service currently defers donors who suffer

from chronic fatigue syndrome (and) before we can

accept their blood again, they need to bring us a

letter from their treating physician advising us that

they are completely recovered, " the statement said.

The Canadian ban on CFS sufferers donating blood is

for their lifetime out of concern any viral cause of

their CFS could be spread.

XMRV (Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related

virus) was first detected in prostate tumours in 2006,

and there is now conflicting evidence surrounding a

link to CFS.

Late last year, a US study of blood samples taken

from 101 people with CFS found 95 per cent also

showed evidence of XMRV infection but following

studies have not produced the same results.