Risk factors for hepatitis C virus infection among blood donors in Israel: a case‐control study between native Israelis and immigrants from the former Soviet Union

Kerzman, Hana; Green, Manfred S.; Shinar, Eilat

doi:10.1111/j.1537-2995.2007.01253.x

Cited by 17 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…The study also depicted an association between syphilis and other transfusion-transmitted diseases such as HIV, hepatitis B, and C, when compared to the donor population that was seronegative for syphilis, and it concurred with our previous observations of higher prevalence of hepatitis C among blood donors who immigrated to Israel from the former USSR [32]. …”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Prevalence and Incidence of Syphilis among Volunteer Blood Donors in Israel

Leibovici¹,

Donchin

Strauss-Liviatan³

et al. 2014

Journal of Blood Transfusion

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Data of 1,290,222 volunteer blood donors, in a 5-year period, was analyzed for prevalence and incidence of syphilis. Subsequent testing of donations positive in Treponema pallidum hemagglutination assay included Venereal Disease Research Laboratory and fluorescent Treponemal antibody absorption. Stepwise logistic regression model was used to identify positive syphilis serology. Prevalence of syphilis was 47 : 100,000, similar in men and women and increased significantly with age (P < 0.001). Native Israelis had the lowest prevalence rate of syphilis (21 : 100,000), while a significantly higher prevalence was found among immigrants from Africa, Eastern Europe, and South America (odds ratios of 19.0, 10.8, and 7.3, resp., P < 0.001 for each). About 33.2% of the seropositive donors had evidence of recent infection, and 66.8% had past infections. Incidence rate reached 8 : 100,000 person-years. Coinfection with HIV, HCV, and HBV was calculated as 8%, 1.88%, and 0.37% for positive donations, respectively. The data support the need to continue screening blood donors in Israel for syphilis and employ preventive measures to populations at risk, in order to improve public health, blood safety, and quality. A subsequent study to assess blood donors' knowledge, attitude, and behavior is planned. In times of global migration this information may be useful to blood services worldwide.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Prevalence and Incidence of Syphilis among Volunteer Blood Donors in Israel

Leibovici¹,

Donchin

Strauss-Liviatan³

et al. 2014

Journal of Blood Transfusion

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“…A local study that was done previously had also observed a rising seroprevalence of 0.89% [17]. This finding is consistent with the increasing trend of syphilis seropositivity observed in blood donors of Israel [18]. A study done in Iran also found a rising trend of syphilis frequency in their population; however, the frequency found in this study was 0.04% [19].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Prevalence of transfusion transmissible infections in blood donors of Pakistan

et al. 2016

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BackgroundTransfusion-transmitted infections threaten the safety of patients requiring blood transfusion, which in turn imposes serious challenges for the availability of safe blood products that are still affordable in health care systems with limited resources. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of transfusion-transmitted infections in blood donors and to evaluate the demographic characteristics of reactive and non-reactive blood donors.MethodsA prospective cohort study was conducted at our institute in Karachi, Pakistan. Donors were required to fill a detailed questionnaire and were screened for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Human immunodeficiency viruses, Syphilis and Malaria by ELISA and thick film (malaria).ResultsOf the 16,602 blood donors, 16,557 were males and 45 females (mean age 28.6 ± 2). Nine hundred and seventy three (5.8%) donations were reactive in any screening assay, with 58 (0.35%) donations reacting in more than one assay. The prevalence of Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Human immunodeficiency viruses, Syphilis and Malaria was found to be 1.84, 1.7, 0.04, 2.1 and 0.07% respectively. Characteristics among the infections were evaluated and it was found that unmarried donors had a higher chance to be infected by Hepatitis B virus and Syphilis as compared to the other infections. On the other hand, construction workers and married donors were at more risk to be infected by Syphilis rather than the other infections. In case of co-infections, personnel with different occupations and marital status were infected by more than one pathogen.ConclusionA substantial percentage of the blood donor’s harbored transfusion-transmitted infections. Prevention of TTIs should be the main goal right now. There is a need for stringent selection of blood donors with the emphasis on getting voluntary donations and comprehensive screening of donor’s blood for TTIs using standard methods to ensure the safety of blood recipient.

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“…Other strong risk factors among native Israelis included close contact with infected individuals and surgery. The risk factors identified in the former Soviet Union immigrants included gum surgery, hospitalization without surgery and receiving injection therapies (143). IDU was found to be a significant risk factor among 29 acute hepatitis C patients, accounting for 20.6% of infections, but a higher percentage of patients (65.5%) could have been exposed through medical procedures (145).…”

Section: Risk Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Multiple researchers identified immigration from the former USSR as one of the key sources of HCV infections in the country. The authors suggested that mass vaccination using non-disposable needles in the former Soviet Union and the spread of infection within families could be the cause of a higher prevalence among immigrants (143,144). The risk factors among immigrants and native Israelis were assessed in a case-control study of 434 blood donors (143).…”

Section: Risk Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The authors suggested that mass vaccination using non-disposable needles in the former Soviet Union and the spread of infection within families could be the cause of a higher prevalence among immigrants (143,144). The risk factors among immigrants and native Israelis were assessed in a case-control study of 434 blood donors (143). IDU was associated with HCV infection in both groups, accounting for 14% of cases in native Israelis and 10.2% of cases in immigrants.…”

Section: Risk Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A systematic review of hepatitis C virus epidemiology in Europe, Canada and Israel

Cornberg

Razavi

Alberti

et al. 2011

Liver International

373

294

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Background and Aim: Decisions on public health issues are dependent on reliable epidemiological data. A comprehensive review of the literature was used to gather country-specific data on risk factors, prevalence, number of diagnosed individuals and genotype distribution of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in selected European countries, Canada and Israel. Methodology: Data references were identified through indexed journals and non-indexed sources. In this work, 13 000 articles were reviewed and 860 were selected based on their relevance. Results: Differences in prevalence were explained by local and regional variances in transmission routes or different public health measures. The lowest HCV prevalence ( 0.5%) estimates were from northern European countries and the highest (Z3%) were from Romania and rural areas in Greece, Italy and Russia. The main risk for HCV transmission in countries with wellestablished HCV screening programmes and lower HCV prevalence was injection drug use, which was associated with younger age at the time of infection and a higher infection rate among males. In other regions, contaminated glass syringes and Keywords diagnosis -epidemiology -HCV -hepatitis C -incidence -mortality -prevalence Conclusion: Despite the eradication of transmission by blood products, HCV infection continues to be one of the leading blood-borne infections in the region.Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is a major health burden in Europe. Recent data suggest that patients with CHC have a higher overall morbidity and mortality (1, 2). A significant portion of liver transplantation in Europe is attributable to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma because of CHC (3). The socioeconomic impact of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is tremendous. The incidence of complications of CHC will not decline over the next 10 years despite improved efficacy of antiviral therapy because most patients with CHC remain undiagnosed (4). Prevention of new infections, HCV screening and early treatment have the potential to reduce the overall morbidity and mortality. However, the cost-effectiveness of HCV screening may depend on the HCV prevalence (5). Decisions on public health issues such as HCV screening and prevention measures are dependent on reliable epidemiological data regarding HCV prevalence and transmission routes. The epidemiological status in Europe is continuously evolving and may vary significantly among the different regions throughout Europe (6). Thus, different countries may need different strategies to reduce the overall burden of HCV infection.Because epidemiological data are the basis for the development of preventive measures, we aimed to systematically identify, review and characterize HCV epidemiology throughout Europe. We included Canada and Israel in our analysis because their healthcare systems and the epidemiological situation are similar to many European countries. MethodsA comprehensive review of the literature was used to gather country-specific data on risk factors, prevalence, number of diagnosed...

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Risk factors for hepatitis C virus infection among blood donors in Israel: a case‐control study between native Israelis and immigrants from the former Soviet Union

Abstract: Although the strength of risk factors for HCV differs between Israeli and immigrant BDs, most factors studied did not differ between the groups. Therefore, changes in screening of all BDs are considered.

Cited by 17 publications

References 35 publications

Prevalence and Incidence of Syphilis among Volunteer Blood Donors in Israel

Prevalence and Incidence of Syphilis among Volunteer Blood Donors in Israel

Prevalence of transfusion transmissible infections in blood donors of Pakistan

A systematic review of hepatitis C virus epidemiology in Europe, Canada and Israel

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