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The British government has advised against the use of UK plasma in blood products, to protect patients from the “theoretical risk” of contracting the new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD).

On the advice of the UK Committee on Safety of Medicines, the government is to review all blood products containing UK plasma. Meanwhile the National Health Service Bio Products Laboratory, part of the National Blood Service, will be allowed to import plasma from abroad.

UK plasma, derived from between 20,000 and 66,000 donations each year, is used to make 33 licensed blood products, including coagulation factors and immunoglobulins. Some of these products could have their licences withdrawn, as long as satisfactory alternatives are available, according to Jeremy Metters, deputy chief medical officer.

The committee has also suggested that blood products should be recalled if donors are “strongly suspected” of having vCJD. Previous product recalls were based only on confirmed cases. The latest move follows three recalls of blood products last November after donors had developed vCJD.

Frank Dobson, the health secretary, stressed that the recommended measures are strictly “precautionary” and that there is no evidence of vCJD transmission through blood or blood products. But he said it was better to be safe than sorry. “If there is even a hypothetical risk, and there are safe alternative sources of products, then it makes sense to use them.”

Dobson also announced the outcome of a review of the NHS's provision of factor VIII. He said health authorities are being urged to ensure that recombinant factor VIII is made available to haemophiliacs under the age of 16, and to new patients. The review highlighted concerns over the potential danger of using factor VIII, as haemophiliacs have a high potential risk of contracting blood-borne infections.