Reason for Blood Donor Deferral for Exposure to Leishmaniasis

1
Reason for Blood Donor Deferral for Exposure to
Leishmaniasis

• Presented by deployment illness advocate
• Venus-Val Hammack 12/11/03

HQ Mass State House, 24 Beacon St. Ste
545-1 Boston MA 02133 v540-477-2923 Email
jagmedic_at_gulflink.org
2

• This soldier went to blood drive a year post
  deployment in Middle East combat Operations.
• The Donation staff in a civilian facility was
  willing to a accept this blood unaware of her
  Leishmaniasis Status.

3

• Currently National Guard and Reserve members of
  Operation Enduring Freedom return home unaware
  they are ban from blood donations and were
  planning to do so- Dec 2003

4
Military Among General Population

• With sign of only a
• insect bite
• A latency period of years before detection by
  diagnostics analysis.
• How many have passed this parasite to family
  members already?
• How many of these individuals have been
• Marrow donors ?

5
The US Assistant Secretary of Defense has
estimated that the incubation period is usually
under 6 months and has consequently imposed a
12-month ban on donating blood from the date of
departure from Iraq, estimating that this will
result in the loss of a further 12 375 blood
donors... http//www-nehc.med.navy.mil/downloads/p
revmed/leishmanAug03.pdf DoD fails to address
Visceral Leishmaniasis in its communications to
the troops and veterans. It is this omission
which bring this population into the blood pool.
6
RAPD PCR Analysis

• For Visceral (VL)
• Expensive costs
• Proper samples painful to obtain.
• Dormant period varies in each patient.
• It take years to reach detection levels for
  analysis procedure.
• Years for additional refinement necessary.

7
PCR-positive pooled aliquots of sand flies
collected from An Nasiriyah were positive by
species-specific PCR for _L. infantum_, which can
cause visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis.
Leishmania in US troops from Iraq, Kuwait,
Afghanistan http//www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrht
ml/mm5242a1.htm American soldiers immune system
are as ignorant as childrens.
8
Lifetime Ban for all servicepersons whodeployed
to Middle Eastoperations 1990 to present

• This veterans group demand

To save our love ones from this time bomb Of a
Threat