Blood and Plasma Donations Among a Cohort of Intravenous Drug Users

Abstract

The authors studied the blood and plasma donation histories of a cohort of intravenous drug users who had been recruited for a natural history study of HIV-1 infection. Most subjects who had donated blood after beginning to use intravenous drugs had done so at a commercial plasma center where they had been paid for their donation. According to self-reports, many of the subjects donating since 1985 (when mandatory screening of all donors for HIV antibodies began) had not been notified or counseled about their HIV status by personnel at the centers where they had donated. Nelson, et al. believe that greater efforts are needed to identify and exclude intravenous drug users as blood donors, and to notify and counsel potential donors whose blood tests positive for HIV antibodies. (KIE abstract)