Blood Transfusions have already caused ME?!

http://www.mefmaction.net/Portals/0/docs//Blood Transfusions and CFS.pdf

From: Legal Disability Manual for Fibromyalgia Syndrome and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic

Fatigue Syndrome Editor: Marjorie van de Sande, National ME/FM Action Network

FMS & ME/CFS Overview

Blood Transfusion and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
K. De Meirleir, P. De. Becker, I. Campine.
Human Physiology and Medicine
Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
Reprinted with permission from Dr. De Meirleir

Presented at the Sydney February 1999 CFS Conference.

We analysed the data of 1210 consecutive patients complaining of chronic
fatigue who visited our fatigue clinic at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
In this group, 752 patients fulfilled the CDC criteria for CFS (Fuduka, 1994). Of
those CFS patients, 34 (4.5%) have a common factor in their past medical history
that immediately preceded the onset of their CFS. These patients had received a
blood transfusion a few days to a week prior to developing a flu-like syndrome
that later proved to be the acute onset of their CFS. Another 8 patients also
received a blood transfusion but their illness only started at least two months
later, so that we cannot take these patients into our calculations.

None of these post-transfusion patients developed hepatitis C or other types of
viral hepatitis. Some have antibodies (IgG) in time relationship to the blood
transfusion could not be determined. In 9 of 35 patients the LMW RNase L
account for the upregulation of the total RNase L enzyme activity. This 2-5A
synthetase Rnase L pathway is activated in viral disorders.

Click to expand...

Potential Risk to Blood Supply Probed - Wall Street Journal reports on NIHs XMRV Working Group & blood screening in general

April 5, 2010

Efforts are under way to find effective tests for the virus and determine its prevalence, led by a working group funded by the National Institutes of Health and including federal agencies such as the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to an article by Amy Dockser Marcus posted April 4 on WSJ.com. Blood banks, academic institutions and at least one advocacy group are also involved. (Meanwhile, alerted to the issues, Canada announced a ban on CFS patient blood donations.)

In a well-balanced, very informative piece, Dockser Marcus explains XMRV research to date, issues regarding viral incidence and public health significance, and questions to be addressed regarding transfusions & the blood supply in particular.

As she reports, the Federal XMRV Working Groups project involves two, and perhaps three phases.

1. Analysis to identify which of various current tests may be sensitive and reliable enough to identify evidence of XMRV in blood. And "results are expected in a few weeks."

2. Sending hundreds of blinded blood samples for testing to each of four labs. Some samples from ME/CFS patients known to have XMRV, some healthy donor samples spiked with the virus and other healthy donor samples tested negative. The question: to what extent will the different labs findings agree?

3. If indicated, testing frozen federal blood specimens dating as far back as the 70s that link the blood donor to the blood recipients. Then if evidence of XMRV is found in a donor sample, testing the recipients sample.

In the broader context of blood supply testing and safety, Dockser Marcus notes that in the US donated blood is currently subjected to 12 screening tests (e.g., for HIV & hepatitis C). She provides an interesting chart regarding emerging infectious diseases with potential to pose a risk to the blood supply, one being the Lyme spirochete Borrelia burdorferi (little evidence of risk but high public concern).