Regardless of where in the body they are produced they are considered blood fractions/products/derivatives. These are removed from primary components of blood by fractionation process. Simple answer, Theoretically they can all transmit disease.

As Richard stated, theoretically, all blood fractions have the potential of transmitting bloodborne pathogens, but by taking a closer look at how each of these fractions is processed, you will have a better idea of how much of a risk is involved in their use. Take for example albumin. Once it is removed from plasma, it is heat treated to 60 degree celsius for 10 hours, which will pretty much kill off anything. On the other hand, cryoprecipitate is extracted from frozen plasma. To heat treat this product would destroy it's effectiveness, so the risk of transmission of a bloodborne disease is potenially much greater, since cold treatment does not destroy pathogens as effectively as heat. It takes 40 units of plasma to obtain just one unit of cyroprecipitate, and the usual dosage is 5 units, which would mean that you are potentially exposing yourself to 200 different plasma donors. As with any medical treatment, you need to look at the benefit verses risk potential of a specific treatment to be able to make the best decision for you. While all minor blood fractions are a matter of conscience for Jehovah's Witnesses, some may not feel comfortable with the potential risk with some of these products.

Those were some very interesting comments. i am one of Jehovah's Witnesses as well, and im always trying to educate myself on blood fractions so as to be able to update my DPA accordingly. i never realized the potential of transmitting disease threw fractions. does anyone know of a source where i could examine in more detail the positives and negatives of different blood fractions?

You can start right here at NoBlood and type in different fractions to learn about them. By reading the threads you can learn much. Also you can type them in on any search engine ie.. google, yahoo.. an additional and good source is Wikipedia. Type IVIG (Intravenous Immune Globulins) and you'll find it's uses and it's risks.

Gamma Globulin IV therapy, employed numerous times, for ITP. Can a set of inflammations, infections, fistulas, weaknesses be traced for a certainty to the blood fraction itself? Various hospitals, doctors, etc., have not been able to figure out source of these symptoms in this 78-year-old woman.

Appreciate your replies.