The Prevalence of Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and AIDS in Blood Donors in Ilam Province: A Retrospective Study

One of the most important goals of blood transfusion organizations throughout the world is to provide healthy blood and prevent the transmission of various infectious diseases with blood. Viral hepatitis (HBV and HCV)ccc and HIV are the most important and dangerous threats to the blood transfusion system. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of hepatitis C, hepatitis B and AIDS in healthy blood donors in Ilam province, west of Iran.

In this retrospective cross-sectional study, the prevalence of HBV, HCV and HIV was evaluated in 145273 blood donors from 2007 to 2017 who referred to the blood transfusion center of Ilam province. Screening for HIV, HBV and HCV was done with ELISA.

From 145,273 donors, 249 cases were HBV positive, 66 were HCV positive and 6 were HIV positive. Among the total number of people infected with these viruses, 202 were married and 119 were single. The prevalence of HBV, HCV and HIV in men was significantly higher than in women (P <0.01). Meanwhile, the rate of disease was higher in individuals over the age of 40 compared to those aged 20 to 40 years old (P <0.01).

The results of this study revealed that blood-borne infections in blood donors in Ilam province have a lower prevalence regarding the results of other studies carried out in other regions of Iran as well as other countries. The exact screening of the blood of male donors over the age of 40 is essential. Therefore, the accurate selection of blood donors is recommended with a view to ensuring the safety of blood recipients, with the emphasis on the sensitivity and specificity of screening methods.