Abstract
Transfusion-transmissible infectious agents such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and syphilis are among the greatest threats to blood safety for the recipient. This study aimed at determining the seroprevalence of transmissible bacteria such as syphilis and viruses as HIV, HBV, HCV and HTLV infections among blood donors at Aseer Region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study was conducted on random blood samples collected from healthy blood donor volunteers, who were referred to Blood Transfusion Centers found at Aseer region, during the period March 2012 to January 2013. All the collected blood units were screened for syphilis antibodies, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), anti-hepatitis B core antibody (HBc-Ab), hepatitis C virus (HCV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) 1 and 2 and human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) I/II. All donated blood units were checked for HBV-DNA, HCV-RNA and HIV-RNA by nucleic acid test (NAT) technology. A7267 donors (26 females (0.36%) and 7241 males (99.64%)) were accepted for donation with median age of 28 (female) and 30 years (males). Screening resulted in two (0.028%) positive cases for anti-Treponemapallidum antibodies, two (0.028%) positive cases for HIV-Ab but negative for HIV-RNA as confirmed by PCR, 5 (0.069%) positive cases for HCV-Ab with 2 (0.028%) of them positive for HCV-RNA, 71 (0.98%) were HBsAg positive of them 66 (0.91) were positive to HBV-DNA, 449 (6.18%) were anti-HBc positive of them 78 (1.07%) were positive to HBV-DNA. There were no positive samples for HTLV-1/2 antibodies. Prevalence of syphilis, HBsAg, HCV-Ab in Aseer region is very low. The rate of HBc-Ab in units of blood donation is relatively high. The presence of HBV-DNA in HBc-Ab positive donations make it risky for use.