The most frequent complication of blood transfusion continues to be non-A, non-B hepatitis (NANBH); other potential complications include hepatitis B, alloimmunization, transfusion reaction, immunologic suppression, and iron overload.” Estimating ‘conservatively’ just one of those serious dangers, the report added: “It is anticipated that approximately 40,000 people [in the United States alone] will develop NANBH yearly and that up to 10% of these will develop cirrhosis and/​or hepatoma [liver cancer].”​—The American Journal of Surgery, June 1990.

17. How may blood transfusions do damage that may not be immediately evident?

¹⁷ Drs. Goodnough and Shuck also mentioned “immunologic suppression.” Yes, evidence mounts that even properly cross-matched blood can damage a patient’s immune system, opening the door to cancer and death. Thus, a Canadian study of “patients with head and neck cancer showed that those who received a blood transfusion during removal of [a] tumor experienced a significant decrease in immune status afterwards.” (The Medical Post, July 10, 1990) Doctors at the University of Southern California had reported: “The recurrence rate for all cancers of the larynx was 14% for those who did not receive blood and 65% for those who did. For cancer of the oral cavity, pharynx, and nose or sinus, the recurrence rate was 31% without transfusions and 71% with transfusions.” (Annals of Otology, Rhinology & Laryngology, March 1989) Suppressed immunity seems also to underlie the fact that those given blood during surgery are more likely to develop infections.​—See box, page 10.

[Box on page 10]

TRANSFUSION AND INFECTION

After a broad review of whether blood transfusions may make a patient more susceptible to infection, Dr. Neil Blumberg concluded: “Of 12 clinical studies [of the matter], 10 found that transfusion was significantly and independently associated with an increased risk of bacterial infection . . . Additionally, transfusion at some distant time prior to surgery may affect patient resistance to infection if the immunologic effects of transfusion are as long-lived as some studies suggest . . . If these data can be extended and confirmed, it appears that acute postoperative infections could be the single most common significant complication associated with homologous transfusion.”​—Transfusion Medicine Reviews, October 1990.