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| UK troops in blood disease checks | UK troops in blood disease checks |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Eighteen British service personnel are being tested amid fears they may have been given contaminated blood while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. | Eighteen British service personnel are being tested amid fears they may have been given contaminated blood while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. |
| The troops are being screened for a range of diseases including HIV, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed. | |
| The blood transfusions were given to personnel serving in the two countries after 2001 from American supplies. | The blood transfusions were given to personnel serving in the two countries after 2001 from American supplies. |
| The MoD said the risk of infection was low and that the troops could have died without receiving the blood. | The MoD said the risk of infection was low and that the troops could have died without receiving the blood. |
| The personnel are being tested for HIV, Hepatitis B and C, HTLV - a virus similar to HIV, Chagas - a tropical parasitic disease which occurs in the Americas - and the sexually-transmitted infection syphilis. | |
| We are working with the appropriate health authorities to do all that we can to test and reassure the people involved Derek TwiggDefence Minister | |
| Defence Minister Derek Twigg said the risk of any of the troops being infected was "low", but the MoD was still taking the situation "extremely seriously". | |
| "These 18 service personnel would almost certainly have died without receiving an emergency blood transfusion at the front line," he said. | |
| He added: "We are working with the appropriate health authorities to do all that we can to test and reassure the people involved. | |
| "We are, and will continue to do all that we can to support them and their families through this uncertain time." | |
| An MoD spokeswoman said the test results were expected within the next three weeks. |