UP to 400 people queued outside Pelican House in Dublin yesterday to give blood following the Blood Transfusion Service Board's appeal on Friday night for donors after a contamination scare.
Hospitals now had no problems securing supplies of blood following the "incredible" response from the public over the weekend, a spokesman for the board said.
On Friday, the board recalled all blood products supplied by Pelican House following a report of bacterial infection resulting from a transfusion.
The board's spokesman said it had taken the unprecedented step of opening its offices in Dublin and Cork for four hours on Saturday and yesterday. About 200 people turned up at Pelican House in Dublin to give blood on Saturday and nearly double that number yesterday.
Blood supplies were also flown in from London and Scotland, the spokesman said.
The bacterial infection was identified in a single patient who underwent a transfusion on Friday afternoon. The board believed the infection may have resulted from a fault in a type of blood bag used only in Pelican House. The patient was treated with antibiotics and was later discharged from hospital without suffering any ill effects, according to the board.
By 11 p.m. on Friday, all hospitals in need of emergency supplies of blood were receiving them, the spokesman said yesterday. Hospitals were notified on Friday not to use the blood products from Pelican House except in emergencies - and then in association with antibiotics. The board said it was confident that no other cases of infection had occurred before all potentially infected supplies had been withdrawn.
The board stated on Friday evening that it had received a single report of an infection, serralia septicaemia, which may have been associated with a possible fault in a bag issued from Pelican House.
All supplies associated with this type of bag were withdrawn, the BTSB said, pending further investigation.
The risk of infection was infinitesimally small, the board insisted, and because of the nature of the infection, which included body spasms, it could be instantly recognised and treated with antibiotics.
The BTSB spokesman, Mr Brian Whelan, said yesterday that there was now no problem with hospitals receiving adequate supplies of blood.