How is the blood supply safeguarded now?
Since April of 1985, all blood donations have been tested for antibodies to HIV-1, the predominant strain of HIV in the United States. HIV-2 infection of blood and plasma donations is extremely rare. Since the implementation of HIV-2 donor blood and source plasma screening in late 1991 and early 1992, only three cases of HIV-2 infection have been detected in an estimated 74 million donations. Screening of about 20 million blood donations between 1987 and 1989 revealed no blood donations with HIV-2 antibodies. In addition to blood donation testing, blood donors are screened prior to blood donation for risky behaviors associated with HIV infection. With these two procedures in place, the current estimate for the risk of HIV transmission by screened donor blood is one in 500,000. A landmark report on the HIV contamination of the nation’s blood supply and blood products was issued by a special committee of the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine (IOM) in July 1995. The comm
