Distribution of hepatitis b virus, and hepatitis c virus among blood donors in Aden Blood Center

الملخص EN

Although blood transfusion saves millions of lives worldwide each year, infections caused by hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus remain the most important health problems.

The introduction of new and improved screening tests for transfusion-transmissible diseases has led to remarkable improvement in the safety of the blood supply, with substantial shortening of the window period for HCV and HBV infections.

This prospective study was conducted at Aden Blood Center from June 2007 to December 2008.

A total of 5825 blood donors were evaluated for the prevalence of HBV, HCV, of 5572 (95.7%) were replacement donors, and 253 (4.3%) were voluntary donors.

HBsAg positive was found in 2.7%, anti-HCV in 2.0%, of overall donors.

Nevertheless, because there is no screening method to reduce the risk resulting from transfusion to zero, it is essential to adopt strict criteria in the selection of donor and to avoid unnecessary transfusion.

The purpose of this study is to determine the prevalence of hepatitis B, and hepatitis C infections among the blood donors.