Safe blood? HTLV-1 infection is crippling.

EDITOR, - M Brennan and colleagues1 and A G Dalgleish2 conclude that the low prevalence of infection with human T cell leukaemia/lymphoma virus type I (HTLV-I) in Britain means that screening blood donors for antibodies to this virus is not cost effective. Though we accept the economic arguments, the consequences of such a policy can be tragic for …