[Blood transfusion-associated AIDS]

To know the prevalence and epidemiologic characteristics of AIDS related to blood transfusion.

This is a retrospective study, conducted from January 1988 to August 1992.

General Regional Hospital of Mexican Institute for Social Security in Puebla, Mexico.

Inpatients and outpatients attending the hospital and in whom the diagnosis of AIDS stage IV, according to the criteria by the Centers for Disease control, Atlanta, USA, was made. The following criteria were used: age, sex, marital status, date of blood transfusion, amount of blood units transfused, incubation period and course of the disease.

The mean, standard deviation, the correlation coefficient and Student t-test were used.

Two hundred and forty-seven cases of AIDS were found, 61 of then were related to blood transfusion (24.7%). The mean age was 30 years (SD +/- 9). Thirty-nine out of 61 cases were females (63.9%). The incubation period was 48 months (SD +/- 16) and was shorter in those subjects who received more units of blood, however, this was not statistically significant (P > 0.20). Transmission of the infection to the sexual partner was observed in 6 cases, and perinatal transmission in 2 cases.

AIDS transmitted by blood transfusion is important; it is more common in females and it is related to the high incidence of HIV infection among commercial donors. Nowadays this mode of transmission is considered virtually absent and a great decrease in transfusion-related AIDS cases is expected in the future.