Positive Action, the support group for women infected with hepatitis C through contaminated blood products, has received more than 200 calls to its helpline since last Monday night's first episode of No Tears, the RTÉ television drama series on the infection tragedy.
Ms Paula Kealy, one of the group's founders, said she was alarmed at the number of callers who said they had received Anti-D during high-risk periods but were never tested for the virus.
"From what we are hearing, there seem to be a lot of people who need to come forward and be tested or retested. It's particularly worrying to hear from people who got Anti-D in the early 1990s who said they were missed by the [hepatitis C)] screening programme," she said.
An RTÉ spokeswoman said that the reaction to the series had been "overwhelmingly positive", adding: "No one to date has said we sensationalised or misrepresented what happened. The feedback is that it's a validation of what they [the victims] went through and they are glad it has gone to a wider audience."
Within hours of Monday's episode finishing, more than 80 people had called Positive Action's helpline [1850 200 231].
Ms Kealy, who herself was infected with hepatitis C through Anti-D, advised people to make an "informed choice" on whether to come forward for testing. Such decisions had implications for life assurance, she said, as insurers loaded the policies of individuals who were tested for the virus.
