A leading Haematologist has said that doctors may have overlooked early signs of the emergence of the HIV virus in the early 1980s. Professor Pier Mannucci of the University of Milan told the Lindsay Tribunal that, in retrospect, this caused unease and unhappiness amongst medical professionals. He said that prior to 1985 some people in Italy were told of a possible link between a virus and the products used to threat haemophiliacs. However, he said that none considered stopping their treatment.
Professor Pier Mannucci is a leading expert on blood disorders. He was one of the authors of a letter to the lancet medical journal in 1985 which first warned against the spread of HIV through blood products. Today, he described that letter as the point of no return regarding policy on using treated and non-treated products for haemophiliacs.
Until then, there was very little evidence about the HIV virus. Between 1983 and 1985 he said that patients in Italy were warned of a possible link but none considered stopping their treatment. Today he was asked when he became aware that concentrates used to treat haemophiliacs might transmit HIV.
This was a crucial issue, he said, one which made them all feel uncomfortable and unhappy. He said that with the information available now, one could not help thinking they had overlooked the signs. "One wonders why we didn't understand sooner," he said.
Professor Mannucci was also responsible for the discovery of a synthetic product known as DDAVP. This was used widely in Italy to treat haemophiliacs instead of using blood products. The Tribunal heard that in 1988 a study showed a low infection rate amongst haemophilia A patients with the HIV virus. Professor Mannucci agreed this was probably due to the use of the synthetic product which had been available since 1977.
