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Transfusions of Blood or Blood Products
Transmission by contaminated blood or blood products occurred in the United States before March, 1985. In 1999, about 1% of national AIDS cases were caused by transfusions or use of contaminated blood products. The majority of those cases were in people who received blood or blood products before 1985.
Upon recognizing that HIV could contaminate the blood supply, government scientists sought ways to keep it safe. Courtesy of National Institutes of Health.
Donor screening, blood testing and other processing measures have reduced the risk of transfusion-caused HIV transmission to between 1 in 450,000 to 1 case in 600,000 transfusions in the U.S. In the U.S., donating blood is always safe, because sterile needles and equipment are used.
At this time, HIV infection is lifelong, meaning that once a person becomes infected with HIV, their blood, semen, vaginal secretions and/or breast milk will always be potentially infectious.
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Infection
