Since July 2016, men who have sex with men (MSM) can donate blood under certain conditions, including not having had sex for at least a year. The goal? Limit the risk of transmission of the AIDS virus by blood transfusion. If the donor becomes infected during intercourse, at least six weeks are needed for this to be detected. HIV can therefore go unnoticed, despite systematic monitoring of the donation.
Corn according to a study published this Wednesday, November 14 by Public Health France, the risk of HIV transmission has not increased since this opening of the donation to homosexuals. The health agency even recommends a relaxation of the rules.
An “extremely low” risk
In total, the study involved nearly 110,000 blood donors. Over the period 2015-2017, the risk was estimated at one in 5.2 million undetected HIV positive donations. There is therefore no such thing as zero risk, but it remains “Extremely weak”, specifies Public Health France.
Today, in case of a new partner or several partners during the last 4 months, the donation is contraindicated. But these instructions are not always followed. Thus, a minority (0.73%) of respondents admitted not having mentioned their sexual intercourse during the year. A choice that the men explained for several reasons: 41% of them declared to always use a condom, 22% had the same partner for a year and 11% had only one report the year before the Don.
Among MSM, however, one in two (46%) said they would have reported having sex during the pre-donation interview if the length of abstinence had been shorter. “Although declarative, these figures indicate that compliance with the selection criteria for MSM may increase with a shorter deferral period.”, thus indicates the health agency. She recalls that since November 2017 in the United Kingdom, this period has been reduced to three years.
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