Isolation of human immunodeficiency virus from peritoneal dialysate

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-seropositive individuals represent a growing population of peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. An important health care issue in these patients is the potential for their PD fluid to transmit virus. Some body fluids, such as urine, have been demonstrated to be negative for HIV and therefore presumably to be of low risk for virus transmission. To determine whether HIV could be recovered from PD fluid, we cultured the PD fluid from two asymptomatic HIV-seropositive patients and one patient with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). HIV was isolated from both the PD fluid and the blood of two of the three patients tested, one being only HIV-seropositive and one with AIDS. These findings indicate that such fluid could potentially be a source of viral transmission and emphasize the need for conscientious application of universal precautions both in and out of the hospital.