THE HIV INFORMATION PROJECT FOR TRANSFUSION RECIPIENTS A DECADE AFTERTRANSFUSION

Objective: To gather information on which to base decisions about a ge neral notification program for pediatric patients a decade after their receiving transfusions. Design: The physicians of a cohort of 1793 pa tients who underwent cardiac surgery were sent letters asking them to contact and counsel patients identified from cardiovascular surgery an d blood bank databases about their risk for human immunodeficiency vir us (HIV) infection. Questionnaires were used to collect data about phy sicians' HIV practices; telephone interviews were conducted to collect information about patients' and parents' knowledge and attitudes abou t HIV and transfusions. Because of unexpected media interest, question naires and interviews were modified to include questions about the sou rce of information. The HIV-testing status of patients reported by phy sicians was anonymously cross-referenced with specimens received by th e Laboratory Services Branch, Ontario Ministry of Health, Toronto. Set ting: A large Canadian pediatric tertiary care hospital in Toronto. Pa rticipants: Seven hundred ninety-three patients undergoing cardiopulmo nary bypass between 1980 and 1985. Results: The HIV Information Projec t successfully reached most (approximately 75%) of this cohort and, wi th the help of the media, many other at-risk transfusion recipients. T he information was new for many; almost all informed wanted to undergo testing. The seroprevalence of this group that received multiple tran sfusions was, at minimum, 8.5 patients in 1000. Six previously unsuspe cted HIV-seropositive cases were diagnosed. Conclusions: Although we h ad assumed that most patients receiving transfusions would be aware of their risk for HIV infection, our results indicate that, even a decad e after the transfusion, many recipients were not aware of the risk an d wanted to undergo testing. Testing identified asymptomatic infected patients.