Less HIV Found in Donated Blood

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Less HIV Found in Donated Blood

Boston Globe (12/28/95) P. 1
Saltus, Richard

More accurate HIV tests and increased education of potential blood donors have made the risk of receiving an HIV-infected blood transfusion very low, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Only 18 to 27 donations out of the 12 million given each year are tainted with HIV, the study found. To further improve the odds, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ordered U.S. blood banks to implement a new HIV test that may detect some 10 more infected donations each year. The additional testing, which will cost the health care system about $65 million annually, will also "add additional complexity, increase the opportunity for error, and create more false-positive test results," said Dr. Christopher Howell, director of the blood transfusion service at Massachusetts General Hospital. An FDA spokesman, however, noted that the agency must safeguard public health, and that cost therefore was not considered when the FDA said last August that the test should be used. Related Story: Miami Herald (12/28) P. 6A

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