Exposure to acellular blood products and risk of HIV infection in hemophiliacs from Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Abstract

Results of a HIV prevalence study conducted in hemophiliacs from Belo Horizonte, Brazil are presented. History of exposure to acellular blood components was determined for the five year period prior to entry in the study, which occurred during 1986 and 1987. Patients with coagulations disorders (hemophilia A = 132, hemophilia B = 16 and coagulation disorders other than hemophilia = 16) were transfused with liquid cryoprecipitate, locally produced, lyophilized cryoprecipitate, imported from São Paulo (Brazil) and factor VIII and IX, imported from Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Europe, and United States. Thirty six (22%) tested HIV seropositive. The univariate and multivariate analysis (logistic model) demonstrated that the risk of HIV infection during the study period was associated with the total units of acellular blood components transfused. In addition, the proportional contribution of the individual components to the total acellular units transfused, namely a increase in factor VIII/IX and lyophilized cryoprecipitate proportions, were found to be associated with HIV seropositivity. This analysis suggest that not only the total amount of units was an important determinant of HIV infection, but that the risk was also associated with the specific component of blood transfused

Presence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and T‐lymphotropic virus type I and II (HTLV‐I/II) in a Haemophiliac population in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and correlation with additional serological results

“…Thirty‐four of 36 (94.4%) had Haemophilia A and 2/36 (5.6%) Haemophilia B. The HIV seroprevalence found in this study reflects a decline in the prevalence found in another cross‐sectional study conducted previously, in 1986, which was of 36/148 (22.0%) [10]. Although the absolute number of HIV‐seropositive patients was the same, the population changed due to deaths (27/70, 38.0%) and new detection of seropositive individuals.…”

“…The reported prevalence of antibodies to HIV‐1 varied, being as high as 90.0% in some groups [5–9]. In 1987, 36 (22.0%) of a group of 148 Haemophiliac patients in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, were positive to HIV‐1 [10]. Human T‐lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV‐I), the causative agent of adult T‐cell leukaemia/lymphoma (ATL), tropical spastic paraparesis (TSP/HAM) and some types of uveitis can also be transmitted by cellular blood products, being a potential risk to patients receiving these blood components [11].…”

An economic model of haemophilia in Mexico

“…Cryoprecipitate can contain blood-borne diseases such as HIV [5], HCV and HBV [6,7], even after serological testing, which poses serious challenges and often increases the cost of this therapeutic option. HIV prevention methods in cryoprecipitate samples are particularly ineffective for countries with a large HIV population [8].…”