Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin, confirmed yesterday it has known for two to three months that the test it used to screen blood products for hepatitis C in the early 1990s was not as sensitive as it could have been.
The products on which the test was used were called platelets and they were given to an estimated 70 children, about 50 of whom were being treated for leukaemia and about 20 of whom underwent heart surgery.
Given the risk that the blood components could have passed on the hepatitis C virus to children, the hospital is now arranging to recall these patients for hepatitis C testing, but it stressed yesterday it does not expect any of them to test positive. It said the risk of infection is "extremely low" and the move is purely precautionary.
Asked why the 70 or so patients hadn't already been contacted given that the problem came to light weeks ago, Dr Fin Breathnach, a consultant oncologist at the hospital, told a press briefing that the hospital spent the last number of weeks trying to identify the children who received the blood products.
"What we did not want to do was to write to families whose children were not at any risk whatsoever and cause concern to them," he said.
He added that he regretted the families had learned of the issue in the media while the hospital was drawing up an accurate list of patients who received the products. The story was published in yesterday's Irish Times.
Dr Breathnach explained that the need for the current look-back to see if any patients had been infected in the early 1990s was discovered while the hospital was checking to see how two other patients treated at the hospital in 1984 and 1988, and who subsequently tested hepatitis C positive, might have become infected. The hospital was informed of these two patients' infections by the blood bank last January, although the source of their infections has not yet been established. They received platelets from Crumlin's own platelet donation programme as well as from the blood bank and would have been infected before screening of blood products for hepatitis C was introduced in 1991.
"It was only during that extended look-back that we identified a period of time from October 1991 to April 1994 inclusive where the newer form of testing for this recently discovered virus, hepatitis C, was in fact not in place," he said.
This "window period" during which a test that was only about 35 per cent accurate was in use, was discovered "a number of months back, two or three months" ago, he added.
Meanwhile Dr Breathnach said it was his personal opinion that a more accurate test for hepatitis C, which had been put in place by the blood bank in 1991, was not put in place at Crumlin hospital at the time due to funding issues.
He explained that at the time the children's cancer unit at the hospital was built entirely from voluntary donations. "At the same time there were restraints in many other areas. I do recall a period of time when we even began to look at resterilising disposable syringes to try and cut costs," he said.
However, a Department of Health spokesman rejected the funding assertion. "The department has been advised by the hospital that on the basis of its internal inquiries to date no request for funding was ever made to the department in respect of the introduction of hepatitis C testing," he said.
Crumlin said it deeply regretted that patients and families were likely to have experienced distress on hearing yesterday's news. It has set up a helpline for anyone with concerns on 1800-250-450.
Attempts will also be made to contact 77 people who donated the platelets, which essentially help blood clot. They too will be offered hepatitis C testing, but again Dr Breathnach stressed that the screening of platelet donors at the time was "extremely rigid and rigorous".