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Four patients get HIV from organ transplants

Infection Control Monitor, November 16, 2007

Four patients contracted HIV and hepatitis C from an infected organ donor in January, the first known instance of HIV transmission through organ transplants since 1986.

Federal and local officials are now investigating whether those four Chicago patients may have transmitted the diseases during the months they were unaware of their infectious state, reported the Chicago Tribune on November 14. The infected donor, who was considered high-risk, did not test positive for the diseases, likely because the infections were too recently acquired to register on standard screening tests, officials believe.

The cases came to light within the past two weeks after one of the patients, considered for a possible re-transplant, had blood tests, reported the Associated Press. The case has raised questions about why none of the three Chicago hospitals that treated the patients tested the organ recipients soon after their transplants. CDC guidelines call for testing at-risk patients three months after a transplant if an organ donor engages in high-risk behavior, the Tribune reported.

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