[ad_1]
Blood donors not only make an important contribution to others, but also to their own health. This is what emphasizes the German Society of Transfusion Medicine and Immunohematology (DGTI) on the occasion of the World Day Against Hepatitis, July 28, and recalls the following: importance of examinations performed during a blood donation. Each blood donor is examined prior to donation and receives not only information on blood pressure or red blood pigment, but also on hidden pathogens such as hepatitis or HIV.
According to the DGTI, more than five million blood donations of more than two million people are examined each year in Germany for these pathogens. Each blood donor will discover immediately after the laboratory examination of potentially visible results. "Not only do many blood recipients owe their lives to an unknown blood donor, but some donors also benefit from early detection of disease," says DGTI. This would interrupt a possible chain of infection and support the goal pursued by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Germany to largely eliminate viral hepatitis from Here 2030.
According to WHO estimates, about 325 million people are infected with chronic hepatitis B or C, and only a fraction of them know it: about 100,000 to 200 000 affected in Germany, only about half have their own infection. Untreated, these infections can lead to cirrhosis of the liver and liver cancer for a long time. This can be avoided by timely diagnosis and therapy, explains the DGTI. Hepatitis is controlled by drugs, hepatitis C through new drugs now almost always curable. "However, it is urgent that affected people learn about their infection," says DGTI.
Incidentally, donating blood does not constitute an anonymous risk test, explains Professor Harald Klüter, President of DGTI. "Our blood collection institutions depend on close and trustful cooperation with donors." They should openly address existing risks. It is only in this way that the quality, safety and constant availability of blood and blood products can be guaranteed. (Ke)
More on hepatitis
25.07.2018 l PZ
Photo: Fotolia / kasto
Source link
