Self-Deferral, HIV Infection, and the Blood Supply

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Abstract
This article evaluates the effectiveness of self-deferral, a social screen implemented to protect the U.S. blood supply from HIV infection prior to the advent of laboratory testing of donated blood. Following a brief discussion of the history of this program, mathematical models are developed to estimate the number of infectious transfusions ultimately leading to AIDS that occurred prior to self-deferral. The analysis suggests that a significant percentage of the maximum number of AIDS-indicated infectious transfusions preventable were averted during the 2 years from implementation of self-deferral to the start of laboratory screening.