Donor's infection is 1st such case in U.S. in 22 years

4 transplant recipients get HIV from donor
Donor's infection is 1st such case in U.S. in 22 years
By Jeremy Manier | Tribune staff reporter
November 13, 2007
Four transplant recipients in Chicago contracted HIV from a high-risk organ donor whose infection went undetected in what hospital officials say is the first documented case of the virus being transmitted by organ donation in the U.S. in more than 20 years.

The transplants occurred in January at three Chicago hospitals, but the patients did not learn until the last two weeks that they were infected with HIV and the virus for hepatitis C. One doctor said the news was "devastating" to the patients.

Hospital and organ donation officials said the infections arose because of a rarely encountered flaw in the test used to detect those diseases -- a flaw that more sensitive tests could help fix, some experts believe. Official said there is no significant threat to other organ recipients, and no other patients received the infected donor's organs or tissue.