RA unlikely to be transmitted through blood transfusions
FROM ANNALS OF THE RHEUMATIC DISEASES
In a second analysis, the researchers looked for RA clusters among recipients who might have received blood from a donor with RA. They found no association between RA risk for a given recipient based on whether other recipients from the same donor had gone on to develop RA.
“In light of the study’s strengths, including low likelihood of confounding and large study size ensuring meaningful statistical power, we believe the possibility of RA transmission is unlikely to be clinically relevant,” the authors wrote.
The study was funded by the Danish Rheumatism Association, the Odense University Hospital PhD Fund and Fund for clinical research, the Nordic Cancer Union, the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research, the Swedish Research Council, and ALF funds. One author reported receiving grants from AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck, Pfizer, Roche, Samsung, and UCB.
SOURCE: Just SA et al. Ann Rheum Dis. 2018 Mar 1. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2017-212844
