3.1. Testing Information - Blood Banks (AIDS)
Description
This article is from the AIDS FAQ, by Dan Greening with numerous contributions by others.
3.1. Testing Information - Blood Banks (AIDS)
All blood products in the U.S. are screened by ELISA assays for
several infectious agents, including: HIV 1/2, HTLV I/II, HBV, HCV,
Syphillis, Hepatitis B core, and a liver enzyme ALT, indicative of
hepatic infections. Some blood donations are also tested for CMV, a
more common virus that has devestating effects in immunocompromised
individuals, such as cancer patients and transplant recipients.
In addition to these laboratories, all donors are screened through
questionaires that meet or exceed FDA requirements.
What if a blood-bank finds out you are HIV positive?
The Red Cross and other blood banks routinely test blood donations for
HIV antibodies.
The Red Cross has specifically asked that people not use blood
donation as a way of finding out if they are HIV+. If you think you
might be infected, go get a blood test. Many cities offer free
anonymous HIV testing. Contact your local public health service office
for details.
This is particularly important if you think you might have been
infected within the last six months, since there's the risk that you
are indeed infected, but do not yet have antibodies to HIV.
Blood donation is a fine thing to do--but how will you feel if you
donate, then a month later you find out through some other means that
you're HIV+? We're supposed to be making a gift of life, not death.
The following article discusses how blood banks use the information,
if you have tested positive for HIV antibodies. In addition to your
possible role in killing another person, donating blood to obtain a
free HIV test also risks your anonymity.
From: McCullough J. The nation's changing blood supply
system. JAMA. 1993 May;269(17):2239-45.
"The coded identity of potential or actual blood donors who are found
to be unsuitable on the basis of medical history or laboratory testing
is entered into a donor referral registry (DDR). Before each donated
unit of blood is made available for use, the coded identity of the
donor is checked against the DDR to ensure that the donor has not been
found to be unsuitable during a previous donation. Although
potentially infectious donors are so informed and asked not to give
blood in the future, this DDR check is thought to improve the safety
of the blood supply by serving as an additional way of identifying
potentially infectious blood should these donors return. The American
Red Cross operates a single DDR with information from all of its 47
reginal centers. However, other blood banks' DDRs act only locally
since there is no requirement that different blood banks in the same
or neighboring communities exchange this DDR information. The
operation of these DDRs costs money, consumes experts' time, and has
the potential for many abuses such as failure to obtain informed
consent and breeches of confidentiality. The value of a DDR in
improving the safety of the blood supply has not been established. An
analysis of the value of thse DDRs should be conducted, and based on
the results, DDRs should be either eliminated or refined into an
appropriate system."
See also: Grossman BJ. Springer KM. Blood donor deferral registries:
highlights of a conference. Transfusion. 1992;32:868-72.
Continue to:
My Books
