DOZENS of concerned parents whose sons have haemophilia have contacted a telephone hotline at a top Manchester childrens hospital following a hepatitis A scare.

Nearly 40 calls were taken last night from parents who feared their sons may have contracted the liver virus following treatment to clot their blood.

An investigation is currently on-going after three youngsters, treated at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital in Manchester, contracted hepatitis A.

All three boys had been using a blood clotting agent, produced from donated human blood, called Alpha VIII.

The hospital treats 38 boys with haemophilia from all over the North-west.

The three young victims aged between eight and 16 discovered they had the virus during routine check ups at their local clinics. The hospital's director of business development, Ray Goodier, said that all the families concerned had been contacted individually. He said: "The aim of the telephone hotline, set up yesterday, was to allay people's fears once the investigation was announced."

hepatitis A is not life threatening and clears up itself. However it does lead to side effects such as diarrhoea and mild jaundice.

Mr Goodier added that since the start of the investigation Alpha VIII had been withdrawn with all patients receiving immediate supplies of an alternative product - as a "precautionary measure."

He commented: "The exact route of infection has yet to be established. However reports from other countries have show that hepatitis A can be passed on through certain blood products.

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