*prior to antiretroviral drugs
In: Biology
Because the virus isn’t just in the bloodstream. Just because it can be transmitted that way doesn’t mean that’s the only place it exists. The virus infects CD4+ cells, some of which are in the bloodstream, but more of which are in the lymphatic system, the gut, and a bunch of other tissues. A blood transfusion would only remove the viral particles in the blood, and the rest will remain where they are and continue to infect new CD4+ cells, so the person’s overall viral load would just go right back to where it was.
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