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Four Transplant Recipients Contract H.I.V.
By DENISE GRADY
Published: November 13, 2007
Four transplant recipients in Chicago have contracted H.I.V. from an organ donor, the first known cases of the virus being spread by organ transplants in 22 years, The Chicago Tribune is reporting today.
The patients also contracted the hepatitis C virus.
The organ donor tested negative for both diseases health officials said apparently because the donor was infected too recently for commonly used blood tests to detect the infection. Those blood tests do not find the virus itself; they look instead for the bodys reaction to the infection antibodies produced by the immune system.
But the body takes time to react, and if the test is done too soon within 22 days of infection the antibodies may not be detected. Doctors say that is what probably occurred these cases.
It has always been known that this kind of transmission was theoretically possible, but it was considered highly unlikely. And indeed, 400,000 transplants have occurred without any previous reported cases of H.I.V. transmission.
Another type of test can pick up viral infections earlier, but it was not used on this donor.
The organ donor was known to be at high risk of being infected with H.I.V., officials said, but the nature of the risk was not disclosed, nor was the cause of death. Federal guidelines recommend against transplanting organs from high-risk people, unless the recipients are so likely to die for want of a transplant that the chance of transmitting H.I.V. seems a lesser threat. There is a shortage of organs for transplant, and many patients die on the waiting list.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/13/health/13cnd-organ.html?ref=health
By DENISE GRADY
Published: November 13, 2007
Four transplant recipients in Chicago have contracted H.I.V. from an organ donor, the first known cases of the virus being spread by organ transplants in 22 years, The Chicago Tribune is reporting today.
The patients also contracted the hepatitis C virus.
The organ donor tested negative for both diseases health officials said apparently because the donor was infected too recently for commonly used blood tests to detect the infection. Those blood tests do not find the virus itself; they look instead for the bodys reaction to the infection antibodies produced by the immune system.
But the body takes time to react, and if the test is done too soon within 22 days of infection the antibodies may not be detected. Doctors say that is what probably occurred these cases.
It has always been known that this kind of transmission was theoretically possible, but it was considered highly unlikely. And indeed, 400,000 transplants have occurred without any previous reported cases of H.I.V. transmission.
Another type of test can pick up viral infections earlier, but it was not used on this donor.
The organ donor was known to be at high risk of being infected with H.I.V., officials said, but the nature of the risk was not disclosed, nor was the cause of death. Federal guidelines recommend against transplanting organs from high-risk people, unless the recipients are so likely to die for want of a transplant that the chance of transmitting H.I.V. seems a lesser threat. There is a shortage of organs for transplant, and many patients die on the waiting list.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/13/health/13cnd-organ.html?ref=health