skaron@eagle.wesleyan.edu (10/06/89)
In article <27780@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU>, asuvax!stjhmc!f100.n226.z1.fidonet.org! Barrett.Robinson@ncar.UCAR.EDU (Barrett Robinson) writes: > > Could someone please present some facts about the chances of receiving the > AIDS virus via a blood donation, and/or giving blood via direct transfusions? > > You right about the odds being minimal. This is especially true in the case of receiving blood donated through the Red Cross. I'm not sure if the exact odds , but the idea behind figuring them out would be the probability of an improper negative result from the blood when tested (the blood is tested a couple of times to try to account for window period) multiplied by the odds of transmission if there is HIV in the donated blood (which is fairly easy, but enough to lower the overall risk). Since the donated blood is heavily tested there is a very low risk of getting HIV thru Red Cross Blood. There is more of a risk thru getting blood thru private blood banks. As far as I know these places don't have to test there blood as thouroughly as the Red Cross does, so there is more of a risk. (There have been lawsuits by patients against some of these blood banks because they used infected blood). Of course the safest thing would be to donate your own blood ahead of time if you knew you were having an operation in the near future. If you get in an accident and need blood, feel pretty confident that you won't get HIV thru Red Cross blood (I believe there have been only reported two cases of HIV transmission in this way since testing began.) There is no way of getting HIV thru donating blood yourself. The Red Cross uses only one needle per person, and that needle is sterile. There is also little risk of getting HIV by donating directly as the blood flows only from the donor to the receiver. Hope this answers most of your questions. SKARON@eagle.wes.edu