HIV Risk in Transfusions May Be Lower Than Once Thought : Science File / An exploration of issues and trends affecting science, medicine and the environment

The risk of contracting the virus that causes AIDS through a transfusion of blood or blood products may be only half as great as originally believed, according to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine. A team led by Dr. Eve Lackritz of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta concluded that among 12 million donations collected nationally each year, only an estimated 18 to 27 contained HIV. The actual risk was higher because donations are divided into several blood components that are distributed to multiple recipients.

For the typical recipient who gets blood products from five or six donors, the risk of getting HIV could be as high as one in 83,000 or as low as one in 122,000. The AIDS risk is probably far lower, however, because 25% to 50% of blood transfusion recipients die from their underlying medical conditions long before AIDS has time to develop, the team said.