HIV transmission through blood transfusions and blood products (such as platelets or plasma) has become rare in developed countries since they began screening all donated blood for HIV antibodies (CDC, 2003; Donegan, 2003; Kalichman, 1998). Outside of developed countries, however, blood safety is not as predictably guaranteed. Currently, 80% of the world's population has access to only 20% of the world's supply of safe blood (Donegan, 2003).
Receiving HIV-infected blood or blood products through a transfusion is the surest way to get HIV. Among those who receive infected blood, 90% become HIV+ (Donegan, 2003).
A person also can be infected with HIV by receiving an organ, bone, or tissue transplant from a person with HIV because these body parts have blood in them. HIV has been transmitted through transplantations of kidneys, livers, hearts, pancreases, bones, and skin (Donegan, 2003). The majority of HIV transmission through transplantation happened before 1985, when HIV antibody testing became available.
As of late 2003, 15 women worldwide were known to have been infected with HIV through artificial insemination using sperm from anonymous donors (Donegan, 2003). All but one of these instances of insemination-related infection happened before 1985, when HIV antibody testing became available. Six of those 15 cases occurred in the United States. Because an estimated 75,000 women are artificially inseminated annually in the United States, it seems that HIV transmission from unrelated semen donors was an infrequent event before the availability of HIV testing (CDC, 1994).
Currently, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends screening semen donors for HIV antibodies two times: first on the day the semen is collected, and then 6 months later. The semen is frozen in the interim. If the donor is HIV-positive 6 months after the donation or if the donor does not return for his 6-month checkup, his semen is not used (CDC, 1994).
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