Introduction
Patients who received a blood transfusion in the 1990's or later have only a very slight risk of infection from contaminated blood. After it is donated, blood is tested for syphilis, hepatitis (B and C), exposure to the AIDS virus, and the presence of a virus associated with a very rare form of leukemia. The chance of becoming infected with a virus from donated blood has been minimized to a degree which has never been possible before. If you had a transfusion before 1992, when hepatitis testing on blood products became routine, you may want to ask to be screened for hepatitis C.
