Risk Factors never list Gamma Globulin and Rhogam Injections?

[laproch]

II had several injections of Gamma Globulin and Rhogam  in the 70's at Ireland Army Hospital (height of the Vietnam war when a lot of soldiers were returning with drug addiction and in the same hospital with serious cases of hepatitis and damaged liver). While pregnant I still came down with "hepatitis"  after "prasctive"  gg due to exposure.  (No mention of HCV in 1970.)  

So, my question is 1) Why do doctors always ask about blood transfusions and not gg and rhogam? And literature on risk factors never mentions it either? Both are made from blood (i.e., are blood products)?

How high is the correlation?  I can't find much literature on it online other than what is posted at HepC sites like this one.
Is it a well kept secret or not very substantiated?

Thank you in advance to anyone responding to this. Laproch

[pooh55811]

Yes, Rhogam injections received before screening for HCV was implemented have been a source of HCV. All blood products received prior to HCV screening are potential sources of HCV.

[orphanedhawk]

At the risk of being repetitive most Vietnam era vets probably got hcv from jetair gun innoculations.

http://hcvets.com/

"One in 10 US Veterans are infected with HCV", a rate 5 times greater than the 1.8% infection rate of the general population."

A study conducted in 1999, by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), and involving 26,000 veterans shows that up to 10% of all veterans in the VHA system tested positive for hepatitis C.

Of the total number of persons who were hepatitis C antibody positive, and reported an era of service, 62.7% were noted to be from the Vietnam.

[Barbtail]

Never shared a needle, but did receive 10 shots of Rhogam between 1977 and 1987 and am HCV+.

What are the chances I got it from some other source VS being injected 10 times with a known potentially tainted blood product?  Pretty slim, I'll wager.

I'd like to see a study of Rhogam usage and HCV done in the US.

PS I've been living w/ hubby for 16 years and he has not contracted HCV. We shared everything before I was diagnosed, including razors.

[laproch]

Thanks, Cindy! I agree with you; there must be something to it. I'd like to see more info, I'm going to check out your link. Did you see Dr. Dieterich's opinion: ""You bet it could! The blood supply was not safe until June of 1992 when good HCV testing went into effect. If you got that shot then get tested for HCV right away!"? see http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Hepatitis-C/Gamma-Globulin/show/568095

I got your other email and will be looking for you. I'm still trying to figure out how this site works...I've seen easier ones, but it does seem like a very good one. However, one member already admonished me for posting the same question in two different threads. (Will they terminate my membership for such bad behavior?!) What can I say other than I got confused and thought I accidentally posted on the pregnancy site where the moms were talking about rhogam?!?  Thanks again, Laproch

[laproch]

Thanks, Bill, for taking the time to share what you know about this. Yes, a lot of speculation and that is why I'm trying to find out more. If you come across anything else I'd appreciate it if you send it my way. Laproch

[laproch]

Maybe you should take a look at the answer Dr. Dieterich, MD - Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology, The Mount Sinai Medical Center New York, NY gave to the question of risk in Gamma Globulin before 1992 (see his answer and link below).

Or maybe you have and you disagree? Are you also a gastroenterologist? Or did Dr. Dieterich revise his professional medical opinion after his post? If so, it would be helpful if you could provide the link, or any link from which you have obtained professional documentation which is contrary to Dr. Dieterich. Or does your knowledge just come off the top of your head? Unless you ID yourself as a medical professional along with verifiable credentials it is not possible to accept your answer as fact. I am still looking for an answer to my question.

by xracer1, Jul 11, 2008 07:14PM
Could an injection of Gamma Globulin in 1970 be a source of HVC?
Thank you!

by Douglas Dieterich, MDBlank, Jul 13, 2008 06:44AM
To: xracer
"You bet it could! The blood supply was not safe until June of 1992 when good HCV testing went into effect. If you got that shot then get tested for HCV right away!" DTD

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Hepatitis-C/Gamma-Globulin/show/568095

[EyesofBlue55]

www.nationalhepatitiscinstitute.org/data/.../Immunoglobulins.htm -

a very good site for your info.It will verify everything I just  posted cindy
Tainted blood was also given to a large number of Hemophiliacs that died because of this contamination-cindy

[EyesofBlue55]

No there is not alot of risk associated with it now.It has only become safe since the screening of hep c in 1992 but before Hep C was discovered and they made the GG shot,there was a very high potential for hep c infected blood to be in those pools and there WAS a high risk then.Along with other diseases. This community does not talk about GG shots that much-you can google "Contaminated Gamma Globulin Shots" and hep c and get a whole lot of info on the subject.I wouldnt go as far as to tell someone that they got their bug from somewhere else if they dont have the normal risk factors.Especially if they got the shots before 1992.My hep c dr says he would lay money on the fact that this is where both myself and my brother acquired the disease.We both had shots of GG at the same time back in the early 1980"s.

Laproach-they also dont mention military air-gun injections either as a possible risk factor for transmission so go figure-there are alot of military people that got hcv that way.

[Fnzol]

Those products are made from very large pools of Source Plasma.  Many thousands of donations go into a pool.  The processing includes detergent washing and other steps that, in addition to the extreme dilution factor, render the final products free of the potential for infectivity.  

The FDA does not require a recall of a pool into which it is determined after the fact that an infected donor donated--the risk assessment being so low.  It would be almost impossible to get a minimum infectious dose of virus from a refined plasma product.  

You got your bug from somewhere else.

[Bill1954]

I’ve heard others speculate about HCV transmission and GG/Rhogam. I don’t know much about this, but there is a ‘search this community’ engine here, just to the right of your post, in the right hand margin of this page you might use.

Here is a page with 33 discussions about HCV and gamma globulin; I don’t know if this helps you at all. Good luck; perhaps someone with more info will share their thoughts with you here soon--

--Bill