Background: Infection with human immune deficiency virus (HIV) or hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the health problems in blood transfusion science. This study was conducted in shiraz for determination of the rate of HIV positivity in blood donors during the years 1998-2002.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 615790 blood donors. All samples were screened by ELISA for HIV and all positive samples were analysed by western-blot for final confirmation. All positive samples in western-blot were considered true positive for HIV. Epidemiological data such as age, sex, marriage and number of blood donation were studied and the rate of hepatitis B and C in HIV positive and HIV negative blood donors were compared.
Results: The rate of HIV positivity in blood donors was 5.5 in 100,000. The mean age of HIV positive persons was 33.4±4.2 y. 94.2% of HIV positive cases were male and 79.4% of them were married. 32.4% of HIV positive cases were first blood donors. HIV positivity was more common in first blood donors and in male donors (P<0.005), but there was not any significant differences between married and single persons regarding the HIV infection rate. HCV Ab was positive in 10.4% of HIV positive blood donors and HBS Ag was positive in 5.2% of them.
Conclusion: Frequency of HIV infection in blood donors in iran is lower than many other countries. Regarding the prevalence of the infection in young age, educational programs in these age groups were recommended.