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Background and Aims: Human parvovirus B19, a member of the parvoviridae family, with single-stranded DNA is a very minute non-enveloped virus. B 19 virus is mostly transmitted via the respiratory tract but some studies have been reported which B19 virus can be transmitted through blood and/or blood products. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of B19 among blood donors in Tehran. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the collection of samples was performed in Tehran blood transfusion center for a period of 6 months, from March 2005 through August 2006. Sera of 1640 blood donors who were negative for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B surface antigen (HBs Ag) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) were tested for immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) anti-B19 using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Then, all of the sera were tested for presence of B19 DNA through semi-nested Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Results: Out of 1640 blood donors, 8 (0.5%) subjects had IgM antibody thereby being reported positive; 676 subjects (41.2%,) confidential intervals (CIs 95%= 42.7-50) were positive for anti-B19 IgG. B19 DNA was not found in any of the subjects (0%). Conclusion: The result of this study showed that none of the blood donors had detectable parvovirus B19 DNA. This means that there was a very low risk of transmission of parvovirus B19 through blood or blood derived products. It is recommended that more blood samples to be studied specially in high risk groups.

Background and Aims:This study was the trends of Hepatitis B infection among Iranian blood donors which was analyzed in a period of 10 years. Materials and Methods: In a period of 10 years, from 2001 through 2010, a total of 16,264,830 donations from 30 regional and 35 local blood services were screened. All blood samples were tested for Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBs Ag) by commercial available kits. Sistan-Baluchestan (S&B) province representing a high prevalence and Fars province was a low prevalence area. For assessing frequency of infection, the prevalence of HBS Ag per 100 000 donations and 95% confidential intervals (95% CIs) was calculated. Statistical analysis was conducted using chi-square test and considered significant if P value was <0.05. Results: The prevalence rates of HBs Ag dramatically declined from 1.23% in 2001 to 0.25% in 2010 in Iran. In S&B province HBs Ag prevalence decreased from 3.29% in 2001 to 0.66% in 2010 and in Fars province, the rate of HBs Ag decreased from 0.82% in 2001 to 0.12% in 2010. In this period, the number of donation progressively increased from 1361321 donation in 2001 to 1889851 donation in 2010, P v <0.00001. The number of volunteer donations increased from 92% in 2001 to 100% in 2010. Conclusion: The findings indicated that an appropriate implementation of Iranian Blood Transfusion Organization (IBTO) programs such as the selection of blood donors/ donor recruitment, increasing non-remunerated repeat donors, routine screening for blood borne viruses, replacement donation exclusion, and implementation of automation are being performed.