AABB2025: TTIMS Data Confirm No Increased Risk of Transfusion-Transmission of HIV Following Expanded Donor Deferral Policies

The Transfusion Transmissible Infections Monitoring System (TTIMS), a collaboration involving FDA, NHLBI and major blood collectors, has been actively monitoring the safety of the U.S. blood supply since 2015. Focusing on marker rates and prevalence and incidence of transfusion-transmitted infections, it also investigates changes in donor eligibility policies, particularly monitoring for potential test-seeking behavior among donors that might increase the likelihood of infectious window period donations.

Eduard Grebe, PhD, Vitalant Research Institute, presented a study focused on understanding the impact of evolving donor eligibility policies on HIV risk in blood donations during Monday morning’s oral abstract presentations on “Cutting Edge Insights into Blood Donations and Allocations.”

Contrary to initial concerns, the data revealed no evidence of increased HIV transmission risk due to changes in donor presentation behavior, even as eligibility policies have expanded. TTIMS observed that the average duration of HIV infection at the time of donation has increased among first-time donors since the loosening of donor restrictions in recent years. This suggests that increased test-seeking behavior is not occurring.

The findings, which were reinforced by complex biomarker-based methods, revealed that the average duration of infection at the time of HIV-positive donation is not declining as expected, contrary to concerns about increased test-seeking. Instead, the duration is often longer, suggesting no increased risk of donation during the window period and no rise in transfusion transmission risk due to policy changes. A multivariable regression analysis factoring in demographics supported these findings.