Seroprevalence of hepatitis B, hepatitis C and human immunodeficiency virus among blood donors, Phitsanulok regional blood center, Thailand

Abstract

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections are important blood-borne infections in many countries including Thailand. For epidemiological surveillance and controlling these infections, a cross-sectional group of 2,167 blood donors were screened for HBsAg, antibodies to HCV and HIV by enzyme immunoassay methods. The results revealed that the prevalence of HBsAg positive among studied blood donors was 4.61%, anti-HCV was 2.90% and anti-HIV was 0.69%. When the prevalence was classified by selected socio-demographic variables, it was found that variables including age, gender, marital status and occupation were significant for HBsAg positive rate (p=0.0068, p=0.0019, p=0.0048 and p=0.0017, respectively). For anti-HCV prevalence, studied variables including educational level, occupation and domicile were significant (p<0.0001, p=0.0027, and p<0.0001, respectively), while only educational level was a significant variable for anti-HIV prevalence (p=0.0021). These findings suggest that we should present integrated information and educational programs for preventing and controlling HBV, HCV and HIV transmission among this target group.