Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B and C Infections among Healthy Volunteer Blood Donors in the Central California Valley

Abstract

Background/AimsThe Central California Valley has a diverse population with significant proportions of Hispanics and Asians. This cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) in healthy blood donors in the Valley.MethodsA total of 217,738 voluntary blood donors were identified between 2006 and 2010 (36,795 first-time donors; 180,943 repeat donors).ResultsAmong the first-time donors, the HBV and HCV prevalence was 0.28% and 0.52%, respectively. Higher HBV prevalence seen in Asians (3%) followed by Caucasians (0.05%), African Americans (0.15%), and Hispanics (0.05%). Hmong had a HBV prevalence of 7.63% with a peak prevalence of 8.76% among the 16- to 35-year-old age group. Highest HCV prevalence in Native Americans (2.8) followed by Caucasians (0.59%), Hispanics (0.45%), African Americans (0.38%), and Asians (0.2%).ConclusionsEthnic disparities persist with regard to the prevalence of HBV and HCV in the Central California Valley. The reported prevalence may be an underestimate because our study enrolled healthy volunteer blood donors only. The development of aggressive public health measures to evaluate the true prevalence of HBV and HCV and to identify those in need of HBV and HCV prevention measures and therapy is critically important.

Prevalence of HIV, hepatitis B and C infections among volunteer blood donors at the blood transfusion center of Ilam city, Iran

“…Accurate assessments of transfusion-transmitted disease should be performed for infectious bloods donate in the time period between the arrival time of disease and diagnosis. (2). Similar to our research, an estimated 0.23% of HCV prevalence among first-time blood donors was noted in a large cross-sectional research from six US blood donor centers during 2006 to 2007.…”

“…Males had higher prevalence of HIB, HIV and HCV infections than females. Men are more likely to acquire infection because they are prone to risky behaviors (2). According to results of this study, the total prevalence of hepatitis B, and HIV has diminished over the years, may be due to the better screening methods.…”

“…In this regard, BTCI carries out pre-donation donor screening program which is designed for exclusion of potential donors that are in exposure to infectious diseases. Examples of these are high-risk blood donors with a history of transmissible infectious diseases (such as syphilis) and whom with high-risk behaviors (e.g., drug abuse by injection) (2). The main aim of this research was to assess the prevalence of HBV, HCV and HIV infections among healthy voluntary blood donors in the BDCI.…”

“…Chronic HBV and HCV infections accounts for the main cause of hepatocellular carcinoma. In the world, nearly 240 and 150 million people suffered from the HBV and HCV infections, respectively (2). HIV is also one of the worst pandemics in human history so that has killed 39 million people up to now and infected 70 million people(3).…”

Marcadores de infección para hepatitis viral en donantes de sangre de un hospital nacional de Lima metropolitana

“…En el valle central de California, la prevalencia de VHB fue de 0,28% (IC95%. 0,22 -0,33) en los donantes de primera vez y 0,01% (IC95%: 0,007-0,02) entre donantes repetidos (16) . En nuestro estudio, los resultados positivos para HBsAg y anti-VHC se presentaron en menor proporción en los donantes no voluntarios o de reposición, dichos resultados se dan porque los donantes voluntarios, en la mayoría de los casos, vienen por primera vez, mientras que los donantes "no voluntarios" que son los donantes de reposición, han donado en más de una ocasión y se encuentran registrados en el banco de sangre.…”