How safe is the blood supply in the United States?
According to the CDC, the blood supply in the United States is one of the world’s safest. Almost every person who got HIV from a blood transfusion got it before 1985 when HIV testing of donated blood began. All donated blood has been screened for HIV-1 since March 1985 and for HIV-2 since June 1992. Blood and blood products that test positive for HIV are not used for transfusions. They are safely thrown away. The chance of HIV infection through a blood transfusion is very low in the United States.
). Some health-care workers have become infected after being stuck with needles containing HIV-infected blood or, less frequently, after infected blood contact with the worker’s open cut or through splashes into the worker’s eyes or inside his or her nose. There has been only one instance of patients being infected by an HIV-infected health care worker. This involved HIV transmission from an infected dentist to six patients.
