How well does China screen vaccine donors for HIV?

[banjo67xxx]

My wife was attacked by a dog recently, and before giving her the Human Rabies Immuno Globin (HRIG) they asked her to sign a disclaimer. The HRIG said it was made in China, but the vaccine says that's made in France.

As she was asked to sign a disclaimer, they must believe there is some risk from HIV or hepatitis, but does anyone know how carefully the Chinese screen their donors when making HRIG?

PS: I've tried googling in English, but can't find anything relevant yet ...

[flameproof]

Since there had been all sort of scandals related to purity of blood products ect. you can say it's not very safe.

[onebir]

It's a horrible decision to have to make. I think the first couple of pages of this paper sum up the issues. I hope it works out ok for you & your wife.

[banjo67xxx]

Thanks for the info.

It appears that you have to screen your donors to check they have Rabies antibodies, so one would hope that whilst their screening for that they might do a few other tests. Also, I found another link which said that a Chinese company was manufacturing a low cost HIV test kit back in 2002.

She took the HRIG injection anyway which cost around 1000kuai, and the second injection another 400kuai, but atleast the next 5 vaccinations are only about 60kuai each. So we just have to keep our fingers crossed now ...

[Rincewind]

Rabies, if untreated, is almost always fatal within a matter of weeks and it's an incredibly painful death. I think HIV pales in comparison. Unless you know for sure the dog is not rabid, you made the right decision.