Blood transfusion risk?

How safe/unsafe are blood transfusions today. What are the odds of being infected with a disease such as H.I.V.,Hepititus etc. from a transfusion? I had one recently and the blood bank informed me that I am now ineligable to donate for 1 year. Makes me think they aren't too confident of their own inventory. Thanks for your attention.

The odds are between 1:500,000 to 1:1,000,000.

They are very safe. Here's what happens when you give blood:
You get asked a ton of questions and have to meet all the guidelines and rules for donating (there are a lot of them). You get put in the blood bank's system so they can track you later if needed.
They take a tube of blood and then take the bag full. The bag goes into refridgerated storage. The tube is sent to a separate lab for testing for HIV, Hepatitis, and other agents, as well as blood type antibodies. Once the results are received back at the blood bank, the bag is released to a hospital or wherever it will be used.

Here's the reason why you can't donate for a year: Some things (like HIV) have an incubation period where you have the disease but will test negative for it. If a person that donated blood shows up positive for HIV or anything else that could have been transmitted to you, you will be contacted, as well as anyone else that ever received that donor's blood.

So yes, our blood supply is safe. The reason you shouldn't donate for a year is just to keep it even more safe, just in case.

Oh, one other thing. You can donate blood for your use only. It is called autologous transfusion. You donate your blood at least 72 hours before a surgery or other procedure and then your blood is stored in a place separate from all other donated blood and labeled for your use only. Then if/when you need a transfusion, you receive your own blood. No risk there.