Archive for Март 27th, 2009
HIV TRANSMISSION: EXCHANGE OF BLOOD OR OTHER BODY FLUIDS
HIV can be transmitted by blood and other body fluids in the following ways:
—Through a transfusion with infected blood or an infected blood product
—Through a stick with a needle that has infected blood on it —Through a splash of infected body fluids onto a mucous
membrane or a break in the skin —Through exchanging needles or other works for injection
drug use
Today the risk in the United States of becoming infected with HIV through a transfusion of a unit of blood or a blood product is approximately 1 in 450,000 to 1 in 660,000. Those who received blood or blood products before 1985 (the year in which screening of blood and blood products for HIV became mandatory) are at greater risk for having been infected, particularly if they received multiple transfusions between 1978 and 1985. All blood and blood products are screened for HIV with the same tests that are used to test people for the virus. Because there is a possibility that the person who donated a given unit of blood was newly infected with HIV and that older blood tests would not yet show a positive result, newer tests are also performed that can detect HIV earlier. Advances in screening may decrease this risk even further in the future. Blood transfusions in other countries may pose a higher risk, depending on when the particular country initiated screening of its blood supply and which tests are used to test donated blood.
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