Condition
HIV infection
Individual at risk
Recipient
Guidance at RECRUITMENT for adult volunteer donor and maternal donor (cord blood donation)
Unacceptable
Guidance at CT/WORK-UP
Permanent deferral.
Justification
HIV infection is transmissible by transfusion of blood and stem cells. Furthermore, patients undergoing stem cell transplantation are immunocompromised and are therefore at high risk of complications if infected with HIV.Many people live well with HIV, in excellent health on antiretroviral therapy and with an undetectable viral load in their blood. However, these people are still unsuitable to be donors because, despite an undetectable viral load in the blood, HIV could still be transmitted through virus present in the donors' bone marrow/ stem cells.