Millions of blood donations are made every year in the US for blood transfusions to other people. All donated blood is tested for several viruses that could be spread from one person to another in blood. HIV is one of these viruses. When tests find HIV in donated blood, the blood is thrown out. The person who gave the blood is:
Because blood donated in the US is tested before it is used for transfusions, it is very unlikely that you will get infected blood if you have a blood transfusion. However, if a blood donor was infected with HIV within 2 weeks before giving blood, tests may not find the virus in the blood. This means there is always the slight chance that a blood transfusion will accidentally infect someone who gets donated blood.
The chance that donated blood will have HIV that is not detected is very low: less than 1 in nearly 2 million. The chance of getting HIV in donated blood is much lower now than it used to be because of better testing. People who want to donate blood are also screened more carefully now for behaviors that increase their risk of having HIV, such as injection drug use.
If you are planning to have an operation, you may be able to donate your own blood before your surgery. Your blood can then be used if you need blood during or after surgery. There is an added cost for this because of the extra processing and storage involved, but it is a sure way to avoid infection. Ask your healthcare provider about this.
