Hepatitis-Associated Markers in the American Red Cross Volunteer Blood Donor Population

Abstract

The American Red Cross collects blood from a number of defined subsets of the donor population and the proportion of blood collected from each subset varies widely from center to center. A large part of the variation in prevalence of HBsAg may be related to variations in the proportion of blood collected from plants and factories, military units and schools or colleges. We have derived a regression equation, significant at the p˂0.001 level, which links HBsAg prevalence with these collection parameters. Using this equation, we were able to predict the prevalence of HBsAg among first-time donors in 6 of the 9 geographic divisions of the United States with an accuracy exceeding 10%. The predictions for the remaining divisions were within 35% of the actual value. Correlation studies were supported by measurements of true donor prevalence in three blood centers.

Trends in Incidence and Prevalence of Major Transfusion-Transmissible Viral Infections in US Blood Donors, 1991 to 1996

“…Bastiaans et al 23 estimated that HBsAg prevalence in firsttime donors at 3 ARC Blood Services Regions was 0.26% between September 1977 and December 1978. 23,24 Hence, …”

Hepatitis-Associated Markers in the American Red Cross Blood Donor Population

“…The overall prevalence of anti-HBc among volunteer blood donors using ra dioimmunoassay or complement fixation tests has been reported as 2.3% in The Neth erlands [10], 15.3% in Greece [15], 33.3% in Italy [2], and 2.7% in the United States [16], The prevalence of anti-HBc among blood donors in 13 countries in the western hemi sphere was 21%, and 5.3% of all blood do nors had anti-HBc as the sole marker of HBV infection [12], A higher prevalence of anti-HBc has been reported in volunteer blood donors who present with a history of hepatitis or transfusion [17] and among some US military populations [8], The observed prevalence of HBsAg is significantly affected by the donor selection practices and depends upon the proportion of blood collected at a particular type of site, e.g., schools and col leges, plants and factories, on military bases, etc., which in turn reflects the different so cioeconomic status of the donor populations [3]. It is not clear from the data available to us if the lower prevalence of anti-HBc in Boston reported here was due to the differ ences in the type of blood collection sites.…”

Prevalence of Hepatitis B Surface Antigenemia among Patients with Schistosoma Mansoni

“…While a low HBsAg positive rate of only 0.2% was reported among American blood donors [3], a positive rate of 8.5% was detected in 2,487 male Saudi blood donors [4]. A review of all survey studies regarding HBV serological markers in various regions throughout the country showed cumulative positivity rates of 10.2% and 6.4% among Saudi males and females, respectively [5].…”