HIV Transmission Through Transfusion - Missouri and Colorado, 2008

This report describes the first US case of transfusion-transmitted HIV infection reported to CDC since 2002. A blood center in Missouri discovered that blood components from a donation in November 2008 tested positive for HIV infection. A lookback investigation determined that this donor had last donated in June 2008, at which time he incorrectly reported no HIV risk factors, and his donation tested negative for the presence of HIV. One of the two recipients of blood components from this donation, a patient undergoing kidney transplantation, was found to be HIV-infected, and an investigation determined that the patient’s infection was acquired from the donor’s blood products. Even though such transmissions are rare, health care providers should consider the possibility of transfusion-transmitted HIV in HIV-infected transfusion recipients with no other risk factors.