Pre- and Post-Exposure Prophylaxis for HIV prevention

Must not donate if:

Donor has taken Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) or Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) in the previous three months.

Assess any donor using PrEP or PEP for blood safety risks relating to sexual activity.

If it is over three months since the donor has taken PrEP or PEP and there is no other blood safety risk, accept

Blood Safety Entry
HIV
Non-consented Exposure to Human Body Fluids

The use of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), e.g. Truvada^®, to prevent HIV is increasing. Individuals taking PrEP are unlikely to be eligible to donate due to criteria within the blood safety entry. However, PrEP is also available via private prescription and/or online pharmacies and may be used by individuals who would not otherwise be deferred.

Use of PrEP may interfere with testing for HIV by delaying seroconversion or giving unclear results in a positive donor. For this reason, it is important that donors who have taken PrEP in the previous three months are not accepted to donate, even if they do not have another blood safety risk.

Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) has a similar mechanism of action to PrEP and may also interfere with testing results. In the UK PEP is prescribed to people who have been exposed to someone who may have HIV. This includes sexual activity or a needle stick injury. Donors who have received PEP will usually be ineligible to donate for the same reason they were given PEP.
If the underlying reason for taking PrEP or PEP warrants a longer deferral period, this should be applied.

This guidance will be updated as more information about the use and effects of PrEP/PEP becomes available.

This entry was revised to support the implementation of recommendations from the FAIR study.