What are the chances of a person with a bleeding disorder becoming HIV-positive now versus prior to 1985?
Today, factor concentrates are virtually free of HIV due to viral inactivation technologies including heat treatment, solvent-detergent cleansing and immunoaffinity purification. No seroconversions to HIV have been reported with any of the factor products currently marketed in the United States since 1986. Another type of clotting factor product, cryoprecipitate, was discovered in the mid-1960s and used as a treatment for factor VIII deficiency. Cryoprecipitate is a cold-insoluble precipitate that remains when frozen plasma is thawed at temperatures between 1 and 6 degrees C. The use of cryoprecipitate as a treatment alternative for factor VIII deficiency is not recommended. It might still be HIV infectious, as there is no way to inactivate the virus and retain factor VIII activity in cryoprecipitate. In this case, there is potential for several months’ delay in seroconversion.
