Syphilis seroprevalence estimates of Santa Catarina blood donors in 2010

Abstract

Introduction: Knowledge of blood donor characteristics is essential to better guide clinical and serological screening for hemotherapy. The objective of this study was to determine the syphilis seroprevalence and the associated factors of blood donors in the State of Santa Catarina, Brazil. Methods: This population-based study from the State of Santa Catarina used information obtained from blood donation records. We analyzed 83,396 blood donor records generated from donors who were considered eligible to donate between January and August 2010. The aim of the study was to estimate the syphilis seroprevalence and its relationship with educational level, age, gender, geographical region and having donated blood in the past 12 months. We used descriptive analyses and a Poisson regression to calculate the prevalence ratios for the variables of interest. Results: We found a 0.14% overall seroprevalence and signifi cant differences among the following: fi rst-time blood donors (0.19%) versus repeat donors (0.03% to 0.08%); low educational levels (0.30%) versus medium and high educational levels (0.08% to 0.19%); and donors who did not report their residence (0.88%) or age (6.94%) versus those who did. Increased syphilis seroprevalence was also signifi cantly associated with increased age. Conclusion: High syphilis seroprevalence was associated with lower educational level, age, fi rst-time donation and the failure to provide age or residence information.

Does deferral for high‐risk behaviors improve the safety of the blood supply?

“…The HIV prevalence in deferred donors (0.35%) was significantly higher than the 0.092% prevalence observed among first‐time accepted donors at the same blood centers (p < 0.0001). In addition, the syphilis prevalence rate of 2.81% found in our deferred donors was higher than the 0.54% observed in first‐time donors in Santa Catarina (p < 0.0001). However, for HBV the prevalence in deferred donors (0.25%) was similar to the 0.28% observed prevalence in accepted first‐time donors at the same blood centers (p = 0.64).…”

Avaliação de marcadores sorológicos treponêmicos e não-treponêmicos em doadores inaptos para sífilis atendidos em um hemocentro brasileiro

“…A triagem para sífilis pelos bancos de sangue e o pouco tempo de sobrevivência da bactéria fora do organismo humano, especialmente em baixas temperaturas, como as que se usam para conservar o sangue, são pontos positivos para evitar a disseminação da doença, por meio de transfusões, na população 3,4 . Todavia, é necessária a existência de condutas que visem a prevenção da contaminação, uma vez que este estudo e outros evidenciam a elevada prevalência de sífilis na população doadora de sangue, composta por pessoas hígidas e com baixo comportamento de risco, além de apresentar poucos resultados falso-positivos em nossa triagem.…”

“…A sífilis pode ser transmitida principalmente por meio do contato sexual, por transmissão vertical (congênita) ou por transfusões de sangue, embora a transmissão dessa forma seja rara: o último caso reportado de transmissão de sífilis por transfusão nos Estados Unidos, por exemplo, ocorreu em 1966 2 . A triagem para sífilis pelos bancos de sangue e o pouco tempo de sobrevivência da bactéria fora do organismo humano são pontos positivos para evitar a disseminação da doença, por meio de transfusões, na população 3,4 .…”

Prevalence of HIV in syphilis in a tertiary care centre

“…[7][8][9] Extreme variation in prevalence exist between the various region of same country and different categories of population in the study. [10][11][12][13] Considering the stages of syphilis our study showed rise in latent syphilis (43 cases) when compared to three cases of primary and one case of secondary syphilis similar to the study conducted by Nishal et al and Nair et al 14,1 Whereas rising trend of secondary syphilis has been reported in hospital based studies from India in past by Ray et al 7 The prevalence of syphilis was higher in the age group of 31-50 years whereas in a study in population of Rwanda the prevalence of syphilis infection was high in the g group of 25-49 years than in age group less than 25 similar to our study. 15 Men had higher prevalence when compared to female.…”