Although very rare, contracting diseases such as HIV is still a risk that patients are willing to take in order to prolong their lives.  Many patients die waiting as there is a shortage of organs for transplant.  In truth, last year 7200 people died while waiting for a transplant.  Again, although organ transplants come with risks, the lives saved outweigh the risks.

A high-risk organ donor infected four transplant recipients with HIV in several Chicago hospitals, which was the first reported incident since 1986.  Along with HIV, the organs also gave all four recipients hepatitis C.  Although very rare, this transmission emphasizes the need for change in testing methods when checking organ donors for infection.  The most frequently used tests can fail to detect viral diseases if they are performed too early in the course of infection.  One woman who received an organ from the donor is suing a Chicago Hospital.

Two patients were infected at another Chicago Hospital, and one each at two additional Chicago area hospitals.  It is not known exactly which organs were taken, but experts speculate that they were most likely the kidneys, liver, and either the heart or lungs.  These transplant operations occurred in January of 2007 and the donor was an adult who died in an Illinois hospital three days after a traumatic injury.  It was not disclosed as to what the donor's age or sex was.  Obviously, the patients were devastated and the doctors were heartbroken when this news broke. 

At first, the donor had tested negative for both HIV and hepatitis C, as the infection was too recent to be detected by commonly used blood tests.  These tests look for the body's reaction to the infection, specifically antibodies produced by the immune system.  However, if the test is done too soon, within 22 days of HIV infection or 82 days for hepatitis C, antibodies may not be detected yet.  Most likely, this is the situation that occurred in Chicago. 

Another concern is that the blood test could give a false positive result which would lead to healthy organs not being accurately used.  Overall, the biggest risk for patients on the transplant risk is that they still may not ever receive an organ.  The risk of dying on the waiting list occurs more often, while the probability of being infected with HIV or hepatitis in that small window of time is extremely small.

According to a source connected to the investigation, the organ donor was classified as "high risk" based on a health and social history; however the nature of the risk was not disclosed.  High risk behaviors include gay men having sex within the past five years, people having sex for money or drugs within the past five years, and intravenous use of recreational drugs within the past five years.  The CDC recommends against using these donors unless the need outweighs the risks.  As expected, there is growing support for a newer costlier test that can detect the virus earlier but takes several hours longer to get results.  The transplant system of the future has to reassure transplant recipients a safe procedure.