THOUSANDS of Brits may have a “ticking timebomb” of undiagnosed hepatitis C and are being urged to get tested to ensure they have not been infected in the tainted blood scandal.
Campaigners say that every four days someone affected by the scandal dies.
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Experts estimate around 2,000 people who received unscreened transfusions between 1970 and 1991 may have been infected and still have no idea they have the virus, which can affect the liver, leading to cirrhosis and cancer.
In all, it is estimated that as many as 30,000 patients could have received tainted blood infected with HIV or hepatitis — far higher than the numbers previously disclosed.
Rachel Halford, CEO of the Hepatitis C Trust, called the news “gravely concerning”.
The charity added: “Of those who had blood transfusions before September 1991, a very small percentage of these will be walking around with hepatitis C and not know it. If left untreated, hepatitis C is a ticking timebomb.
“We are urging people who had a transfusion before this date to get tested for hepatitis C if they have not already.”
The Russell Group of leading British universities says that each year, more than half a million people in the UK receive a blood transfusion.
Tomorrow, victims and relatives will gather at Westminster to hear the findings of the landmark Infected Blood Inquiry.
It has looked into how thousands of NHS patients between 1970 and the early 1990s were infected with HIV or hepatitis C because transfused blood was not screened first.
The UK was struggling to meet the demand for blood-clotting treatments so it imported supplies from the US, including donations from high-risk donors such as prison inmates and drug users.
UK blood donations were not routinely screened until 1991, 18 months after the first virus was identified in a laboratory.
Ministers at the time were accused of a cover-up, and it is thought almost 3,000 people have died.
The inquiry heard one person loses their life as a result of contaminated blood every four days.
The Hepatitis C Trust already receives two calls a month from people who have just discovered they have the virus following the historic transfusions.
Charity boss Rachel Halford added: “It is gravely concerning that there are people out there who do not know they have hepatitis C.
“If left untreated, it can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer.
“There is no way of knowing how many people have been infected, so we urge anyone who had a transfusion prior to the mid-1990s who hasn’t already been tested to come forward for screening.”
Sir Robert Buckland, Conservative MP for South Swindon, has campaigned for victims and will be at Parliament tomorrow.
He said: “These new figures are a shocking reminder that the extent of this scandal has reached very widely and deeply across our country.
“The nature of diseases like hepatitis is that they can be latent, or hidden, and can emerge later in life. Therefore it is all the more important that people get checked in order to put their minds at rest, or to deal with the consequences of any positive finding.”
Families and victims will also hold a vigil wearing red clothing today in Parliament Square.
Among them will be dad-of-six Ivan Mackay, 68, from Holsworthy, Devon, who was infected with hepatitis C at the age of ten when he had transfusions after being diagnosed with rheumatic fever.
He had no idea until four decades later when, in 2011 and in his mid-50s, he began to feel continually ill and was diagnosed with hepatitis C.
‘Shocking reminder’
His health deteriorated so rapidly that he lost his building business and ended up homeless.
Ivan said: “In the time before my diagnosis I had no idea and became a blood donor, because of what had happened to me as a child.
“I probably unwittingly infected people, which is devastating.
“My health started to fail, with brain fog and fatigue.
“It caused my business to fail.
“I ended up sleeping in my car, I became destitute and I lost my dignity — all because I was infected with contaminated blood.”
Ivan, who has now turned his life around with the help of wife Christine, had a liver transplant in 2013 after he developed liver cancer.
He has received an initial part-payout of compensation from the Government.
Now Ivan, who has given written evidence to the inquiry, is calling for a compensation scheme for all victims, because many have so far received nothing.
Liver transplant
He said: “I want to see that we get a proper apology, compensation and a memorial for those who have died.
“The Government has let us down. It is absolutely criminal.”
Sir Robert says it is “vital” that victims and survivors receive compensation as soon as possible.
He said: “Let’s face the facts — they can’t wait.
“Nobody is saying people deliberately went out there to try to infect people, but it was indifference, ignorance or ignoring the risks that led us into this type of tragedy.
“That is why ignorance and indifference are the things we have to keep on fighting against if we are to avoid scandals like this happening in the future.”
‘Every day I think of my brother’
SARAH MARTIN, 66, lost her brother Peter, 55, to liver cancer in 2008.
It was a complication of undiagnosed hepatitis C after a blood transfusion he was given after a serious car accident in 1985.
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Tomorrow Sarah and her four sisters will go to Parliament carrying a photo of the once doting father and grandfather.
She said: “From the age of 33, he became very ill. He’d loved his family but he changed. He suffered from brain fog. He wasn’t the Peter we all knew.”
The family, from Hornchurch, Essex, hope they will finally see some justice when the inquiry findings are released.
Sarah said: “I can’t get over the grief because I know he shouldn’t have been given that blood.
“But justice will go some way towards feeling peace for myself and my family.
“There are still people dying now – people who don’t even know they’ve got hepatitis C.”
‘I’ve 7yrs left . . . if I’m lucky
FORMER Royal Mechanical Engineer Brendan West has been told he has seven years to live after receiving blood transfusions infected with hepatitis C, following a hit-and-run crash in 1979.
Brendan, 63, of Farnborough, Hants, was not diagnosed until 44 years later, when he tried to donate blood during the pandemic.
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Brendan, who will also be at Parliament tomorrow, said: “I have stage-three liver disease, stage four being death.
“I have constant exhaustion, brain fog, forgetfulness nausea and bringing up blood.
“My consultant said I have about seven years, unless I am unlucky and get liver cancer.
“I have a death sentence. I’m urging people to get tested now. This scandal makes me ashamed to be British.”
WHAT TO DO
By The Sun’s GP Dr Zoe Williams
ANYONE who received a blood transfusion, or other blood products, between 1970 and 1991 in the UK could be at risk and should get tested.
Especially at risk are haemophiliacs and those with similar disorders who have a rare genetic condition which means their blood does not clot properly – and means they often require treatment with blood products, starting in childhood.
Hepatitis C is curable and 97 per cent of people who receive treatment can expect to make a full recovery.
A simple course of tablets takes between eight and 12 weeks.
Symptoms may include fatigue, digestive issues, itchy skin, brain fog or depression.
If you think you could have been exposed to hepatitis C, it is important to be tested even if you have no symptoms, as this infection can be silently doing harm to your liver.
With modern medicine, most people can be cured from hepatitis C infection and live healthy lives.
You can ask for a hepatitis C test from your GP, sexual health clinic, antenatal clinic if pregnant, and some pharmacies.
If you live in England, you are now able to order a free finger-prick test online from the NHS.
After you have sent your blood sample, you will be contacted with your test result within two weeks.
If you test positive, an NHS health care professional will call you to discuss the result.
The Hepatitis C Trust helpline is available to call on 020 7089 6221.
Or email [email protected].