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A recent case in which a high-risk organ donor infected four patients with the AIDS virus and hepatitis C, has led to calls for more information on the lifestyles of organ donors. According to Chicago public health officials, the Chicago case is the first known instance of HIV transmission through organ transplants since 1986.

The four patients got their organs in January at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Rush University Medical Center and the University of Chicago Medical Center. Two had their operation at the University of Chicago hospital.

According to the CDC, high-risk behaviors which include gay men having sex within the past five years, people having sex for money or drugs within the past five years, and intravenous use of recreational drugs within the past five years, should be excluded as organ donors unless the need outweighs the risks.

The hospitals involved in the transplant surgery indicated that initial tests on the donor for HIV, hepatitis and other conditions came back negative, most likely because the donor had acquired the infections in the last three weeks before death.

University of Pennsylvania medical ethicist Art Caplan, said: “Transplant surgeons generally decide what information is given to patients and their families. Sometimes it’s not much because of the circumstances - patients are very sick, organs are scarce and usable for only a short time.”

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