Praise for St Albans MP from brain disease victim (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

Praise for St Albans MP from brain disease victim

4:46pm Thursday 28th January 2010

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(3)

A ST ALBANS woman who fears she may have been infected with a fatal brain disease through a blood transfusion has praised MP Anne Main for supporting her cause.

A 38-year-old mother-of-two from St Albans, who does not want to be named, contacted the Review to express her gratitude to Mrs Main for supporting a bill aimed at providing victims of infected blood transfusions with compensation, counselling and better treatment.

The woman, a haemophiliac who has been told she may have been given blood infected with the fatal brain disease CJD (Creutzfeldt Jakob disease ) when younger, said: "Anne Main has been criticised a lot for her expenses, but I am really grateful for her support.

"She signed an EDM (early day motion), and she will be meeting me and a lot of other people with infected blood at the House of Commons on Wednesday."

Because haemophiliacs' blood lacks a component which helps wounds heal, transfusions are often necessary and it has emerged in recent years that many were infected with serious diseases before blood donors were rigorously screened and tested.

The woman told the Review: "There is no test for CJD, but I was told in 2004 they had traced the batch numbers and there was a risk I had been infected.

"At the moment my health is quite good and I don't really have any symptoms, although I get tired easily.

"It is something I try not to think about."

CJD usually appears at the age of about 60, with 90 per cent of victims dying within a year.

She said: "People with infected blood are dying at the rate of about one a month in Britain.

"There are about 4,800 with hepatitis C, 1,200 with HIV, and 4,000 with CJD."

The bill, proposed by Lord Morris, has passed the House of Lords and is now before the Commons.

The woman said: "I hope a lot of MPs come to the meeting on Wednesday, we can persuade them to support the bill, and it goes through without any changes."

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(3)