JAPAN: Japanese Patient Infected with HIV by Donated Blood

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

JAPAN: Japanese Patient Infected with HIV by Donated Blood

Agence France Presse (12.29.03) - Monday, December 29, 2003
Hiroshi Hiyama

A patient in Japan has been infected with HIV-tainted blood, the Japan Red Cross said Monday. The blood was donated by an infected man during the short window period after infection when blood samples may not initially test positive for signs of the virus. The Red Cross determined the donor was positive on Nov. 16, after he tried to donate a second time. A retest of his first blood sample, from May 19, was also found to be HIV-positive.

"The initial donation was taken during the window period [immediately after infection]. We don't have technology to detect the virus under those circumstances," said Kenji Tadokoro, Red Cross Japan's senior technical director. It is believed the nucleic acid test, which Japan has used for blood screening since 1999, failed to detect the blood as HIV- positive because the donor gave blood within an 11-day window period after infection.

"What we need is public awareness. We must discourage those who have engaged in risky behavior with regard to HIV infection from donating their blood," said Tadokoro.

"On top of that, we are seeing people donating blood to test for HIV because blood donation centers are more welcoming than public health facilities," said the director. "Many blood donors are giving their blood to help those who need it. But we must aggressively educate the public that you must be responsible when donating blood," Tadokoro said. In Japan, 1.4 people per 100,000 blood donors have HIV - roughly double the rate for the general public.

In response, Japan's Red Cross will raise its level of blood screening to test 20 donations at once instead of the current 50. This is Japan's second case of HIV-infected blood slipping through screening. In the first case, in July last year, the blood was recalled before being shipped.
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