Letter: No hepatitis C risk from us
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Sir: The article "Haemophiliacs `denied clotting agent' " (17 September) referred to "3,000 - out of a total of 5,000 UK haemophiliacs in the UK - infected with hepatitis C to date". That could be taken to imply that hepatitis C infection is still being transmitted by plasma- derived factor VIII. Over the past 10 years, since we have introduced inactivation procedures into the production of plasma-derived products, there have been no transmissions of hepatitis C (or HIV) reported.
Although hepatitis A is more difficult than hepatitis C, B or HIV to inactivate, the facts speak for themselves: our product is the UK market leader in plasma-derived high-purity factor VIII and has had no record of virus transmission of hepatitis A.
It is worth remembering that recombinant factor VIII is not an "artificial form of the clotting agent factor VIII", as it is produced from living cells. Moreover, in the vial which the patient uses, a human plasma-derived product (albumin) is included as a stabiliser. Thus the product is not "artificial" and may not necessarily be "virus-free".
CLIVE DASH
Medical Director
Bio Products Laboratory,
Elstree, Hertfordshire
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments