Up to 100 children who attended the largest children's hospital in the State in the early 1990s are to be recalled for hepatitis C testing, it has emerged.
The Irish Times has learned that the recall of the patients by Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin, has proved necessary because the hospital was not testing blood platelets for hepatitis C between 1991 and 1994.
The platelets, which are a blood component used in the treatment of cancer patients and those with haemophilia, were in this instance being collected at the hospital itself rather than by the blood bank, where screening of blood for hepatitis C began in 1991.
The patients, who received the platelets at Crumlin between 1991 and 1994, would now be young adults and they are expected to be contacted by the hospital in the coming days.
Informed sources said the patient recall following the lookback programme is a precautionary exercise and it is unlikely that many, if any, cases of hepatitis C will emerge when patients were tested.
It was unclear last night what prompted the move. The hospital said it could not comment.
Patients who receive chemotherapy for cancer sometimes need platelet transfusions to help their blood clot effectively. Heart surgery patients and victims of serious trauma can need platelet transfusions too.
Platelets only last five days on the shelf, so keeping the supply going is a constant challenge. Fifteen-thousand doses are used every year in Irish hospitals.