Prevalence and residual risk of HIV in volunteer blood donors of Zhejiang Province, China from 2018 to 2022

Abstract

Background: Blood safety levels have been significantly improved since nucleic acid amplification technology (NAT) testing for blood donors was carried out, but the residual risk of transfusion transmission infections still exists. Here, the prevalence of HIV and residual risk of the HIV transmission in volunteer blood donors of Zhejiang Province, China for five years after NAT implementation were evaluated. Materials and methods：All specimens and information were collected from voluntary unpaid donors at all blood services in Zhejiang Province,China from January 2018 to December 2022. HIV antibody/antigen and HIV RNA were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and NAT. The residual risk of the HIV transmission was calculated using the incidence/window period model. Results: A total of 3,375,678 voluntary blood donors were detected, and the HIV prevalence was 9.92/100000. The HIV prevalence of blood donors in twelve blood services in Zhejiang Province were 6.11, 6.98, 7.45, 8.21, 8.36, 8.94, 9.04, 9.66, 9.73, 10.22, 11.80 and 12.47 per 100000 donors, respectively, and the difference of all blood services was not statistically significant (P>0.05).The HIV prevalence of males (15.49/100,000) was significantly higher than that of females (1.95/100,000) (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in HIV prevalence among blood donors of all different age groups( P>0.05), but the HIV prevalence in 26 to 35 age group and 18 to 25 age group were significantly higher than that in 36 to 45 age group( P<0.05).The difference in HIV prevalence between the first-time blood donors (13.65/100,000) and repeat blood donors(6.78/100,000) was statistically significant( P<0.05). From 2018 to 2022, the HIV residual risk in blood transfusion transmission was 0.266/100000. Conclusion: The prevalence of HIV among blood donors in Zhejiang Province, China is associated with age, gender and times of blood donation. The HIV residual risk in blood transfusion transmission is low in Zhejiang Province and increasing the rate of repeat blood donors is beneficial to improve blood safety.