Safety of an intravenous immunoglobulin preparation: lack of seroconversion for human immunodeficiency virus antibodies.

A retrospective analysis of 18 patients who had received a human intravenous immunoglobulin (IGIV) preparation was undertaken to ascertain the safety of this preparation with respect to transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Patients were followed up by means of periodic enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the presence of circulating antibodies against HIV; a negative ELISA was evidence that HIV had not been transmitted to the recipients of IGIV. Results in 16 patients were negative, and two patients were determined to have had false-positive ELISAs because the Western blot test was negative for seroconversion. It is thus concluded that the IGIV product tested has little or no potential for transmitting HIV.