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Unusual eye reactions to red blood cell (RBC) transfusions have been noted in 74 patients in 14 states since last December, prompting the CDC to investigate. The first 49 reactions evaluated occurred within 24 hours of leukocyte-poor RBC transfusion in 38 patients in Michigan, Oregon, and Washington. All patients had an underlying malignancy. All experienced severe conjunctival erythema or hemorrhage, accompanied by eye pain in 62 percent, headache in 25 percent, and periorbital edema in 23 percent. Nausea, dyspnea, and joint pain were also reported. Symptoms resolved a mean of five days after onset, although they persisted for weeks in some patients.
Of 46 patients with available data, 45 had received at least one unit of blood filtered wit…