Flu Outbreak Hits Blood Supply...01/18/00

NEW YORK (AP) - A flu outbreak that walloped many parts of the country harder and earlier than usual is having an unexpected side effect: a nationwide blood shortage that is leaving blood banks from New York to Los Angeles with just a one- or two-day supply. The annual drop in donations that hurts blood banks every December, when people are busy preparing for the holidays, was worse than usual because of the pre-millennium fervor, said Linda Levi, spokeswoman for The New York Blood Center. Then the flu season, which hit early, kept potential donors home at the beginning of January, just when blood banks usually replenish their supplies. The New York Blood Center issued an emergency appeal for donors Monday, a week after the American Red Cross made a similar request.