%0 Journal Article %J JAMA %D 1995 %T HIV transmission through donor artificial insemination. %A Araneta,M. R. %A Mascola,L. %A Eller,A. %A O'Neil,L. %A Ginsberg,M. M. %A Bursaw,M. %A Marik,J. %A Friedman,S. %A Sims,C. A. %A Rekart,M. L. %K Adult %K AIDS Serodiagnosis %K British Columbia %K California %K Contact Tracing %K Female %K HIV Infections %K Humans %K Insemination, Artificial %K Male %K Risk Factors %K Time Factors %K Tissue Donors %X OBJECTIVE: To investigate and report cases of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission through donor artificial insemination (AI) before 1986 at five infertility clinics. DESIGN: Two types of look-back studies were performed: (1) identification of an HIV-infected woman who reported previous AI, followed by identification of the infected donor(s) and contact tracing of women who were inseminated with his semen, and (2) identification of an HIV-infected donor and subsequent examination of women receiving AI procedures using his semen. SETTING: Five infertility clinics in Los Angeles County, California; San Diego County, California; Arizona; and Vancouver, British Columbia. PATIENTS: A total of 230 women were inseminated with semen from any one of the five identified HIV-infected donors; 199 (87%) consented to HIV testing. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Seropositivity for HIV among AI recipients. RESULTS: Seven (3.52%) of the 199 women (95% confidence interval, 1.55% to 7.41%) who were artificially inseminated with semen from any of five HIV-infected donors and consented to HIV testing tested HIV-seropositive. Information on HIV risk was available for three of the five donors; all three reported a history of having sex with men. Four HIV-infected women were identified through uncommon circumstances, rather than through routine look-back studies of donors. CONCLUSION: Infection with HIV through donor AI performed before routine HIV screening of semen donors represents a potentially serious threat to women who underwent AI procedures. Public health policies requiring retrospective identification of HIV-infected semen donors and patients receiving AI before 1986, especially in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-prevalent areas, should be considered routine. Women diagnosed with AIDS or HIV infection, in whom no identified risk of HIV acquisition is established, should be questioned about previous AI procedures. %B JAMA %V 273 %P 854 - 8 %8 Mar %G eng %N 11 %M 7869555