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Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in Hemophiliacs
Author(s) -
Jason J M,
Evatt B L,
Chorba T L,
Ramsey R B
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1600-0609
pISSN - 0036-553X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0609.1984.tb02584.x
Subject(s) - medicine , immunosuppression , pneumocystis carinii , blood transfusion , disease , pediatrics , immunology , pneumonia , epidemiology , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , pneumocystis jirovecii
From mid‐1977 to mid‐1983 the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has received reports of more than 2,100 cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). These cases had either biopsy confirmed Kaposi's sarcoma or a biopsy or culture confirmed life‐threatening opportunistic infection, without an identifiable cause of immunosuppression. Reports of AIDS in hemophiliacs began to appear in January 1982. As of October 6, 1983, CDC has confirmed 18 reports of AIDS in United States (U.S.) hemophiliacs and 5 outside the U.S. Two had other known risk factors for AIDS. Seventeen of these cases had Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. (PCP). The mortality rate for the 23 hemophiliac cases was 70 percent. Immunologic findings included lymphopenia, a decreased ratio of T helper/T suppressor lymphocytes, and hypergammaglobulinemia. Most hemophiliac cases did not reside in areas of high risk for AIDS. All cases had received factor and, often, other blood products in the 5 years prior to the AIDS diagnosis. The racial distribution of hemophiliac AIDS patients resembled that of transfusion‐associated AIDS patients. Hemophiliac AIDS patients resembled both transfusion‐associated and IV‐drug abuser AIDS patients and differed from homosexuals with AIDS in regard to associated diagnoses. The epidemiology of these cases is consistent with the possibility that AIDS is caused by an agent transmissible through blood products. These data support the need for current blood product related precautions issued by the National Hemophilia Foundation and by the Public Health Service.