Blood Supplies Low; Fear of Contracting AIDS Cited

Blood supplies are critically low in scattered sections of the nation, and some health officials say unfounded fears of contracting AIDS may be keeping potential donors from giving blood.

The Atlanta regional office of the Red Cross, which serves 106 hospitals, issued an emergency appeal for blood donors Thursday and sought to assure donors that “there is no danger of contracting AIDS or any other infectious disease through the donation process.”

“AIDS has just been in the public eye so much lately, you can’t help but feel that plays a part in the shortage,” said Dr. Adelisa Panlilio, acting director of blood services at the Red Cross chapter in Nashville, Tenn., where the inventory was 670 pints Wednesday, down from the usual 2,000 to 2,500 pints.

Some cases of acquired immune deficiency syndrome have been linked to receiving transfusions of contaminated blood.

But “you cannot contract AIDS by giving blood,” Dr. William C. Sherwood, director of Red Cross blood services in Philadelphia, said. “Giving blood is an extremely safe and easy procedure.”

It is routine in the United States for blood to be extracted from donors with sterilized needles that are used only once and thrown away.

Health officials in some regions blamed shortages on the annual summer slump in donations and on increased demand.

Although some officials blame fear of AIDS for reducing donations, he said, “at the moment, we don’t at the national level feel there is a problem with the AIDS scare.”

But, along with Nashville, officials in Oklahoma, southern New Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania blamed their blood shortages on fear of AIDS.

Instead of its normal inventory of 1,600 units of O-positive blood, the Red Cross’ Philadelphia chapter, which serves 97 hospitals, had only 333 Thursday.

The Oklahoma Blood Institute in Oklahoma City normally has 1,500 to 2,500 units, or pints, of blood in reserve, but on Wednesday that was down to 500 units and dwindling daily, Dr. Ronald Gilcher, director of the institute, said.