My wife had our baby a couple days ago and lost about half her blood. Her levels were really low so they told her to take one unit of a blood transfusion. She did it but before they had her sign a consent saying they made her aware of some blood disease risk like hep b and hiv, and possibly Syhillis. This made me very concerned so I asked them some question but they said the risk is very very low. I was wondering if you agree with this and think there is any possibility that she could have gotten hiv or something else. I was also wondering how long after the transfusion she would need to wait before she could get tested for everything that is possible she could have been infected with. I am just starting my family and don’t want anything like this affecting us. Please let me know what panel of diseases she should be tested for and when they will be accurate. Thank you for your time.

I really wouldn't worry about this. While it is good to be cautious about blood transfusions, and they should be used only when clearly necessary, the risk of infection is very low. In the US, with current protections in place -- exclusion of high risk donors and testing of all donated blood -- blood-borne viruses are very rarely transmitted by transfusion. CDC estimates the HIV risk at one chance in 2 million, and in the past few years only a very small handful of HIV infections in the US were acquired by transfusion. Since our orientation is STDs, we don't track the others, but my understanding is that the risks of hepatitis B and C virus (HBV, HCV) transmission are about the same, one in 2 million. To my knowledge, there have been no syphilis cases from transfusion for many years.

To put all this in context, transfusion has several other risks as well -- allergic reactions and related problems -- that, although also uncommon, are a lot more frequent than the chance of any of these blood borne infections. You can find lots of information online; google something like "blood transfusion risk" if you're interested in more detailed information. But from your summary of the situation, the recommendation your wife be transfused sounds entirely reasonable. I really wouldn't worry about this.

In response to your closing question, to my knowledge there are no recommendations to test transfusion recipients for any infection; all are too rare to make it worth the time, money and effort involved. I could be wrong in this, however -- this is not this forum's or my personal expertise. However, you could contact your local blood bank or the Red Cross for any advice they may have. Or just discuss with your wife's doctor: if despite this advice you or your wife remain worried, there's no reason she could not be tested for reassurance. If you do so, I would advise testing for all four of these infections (HIV, HBV, HCV, syphilis) after about 6 weeks.

I hope these comments are helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear. Best wishes to your wife and baby!

HHH, MD