The Nation - News from Nov. 22, 1985

Infants account for 10% of AIDS cases linked to blood transfusions, although they get only 2% of all transfusions, suggesting that babies may be more susceptible to getting the disease in this way than older people, researchers say. Most babies with AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, are infected by their mothers before they are born, said Dr. Thomas A. Peterman of the national Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. Peterman and his colleagues found that 10% of 194 AIDS cases linked to transfusions of whole blood or blood products involved infants.