Comparison of seropositivity of HIV, HBV, HCV and syphilis in replacement and voluntary blood donors in western India.

A 5 year retrospective study from June, 1994 to May, 1999 was conducted at Zonal Blood Transfusion Centre, Umaid Hospital and Department of Pathology, Dr. SN Medical College and Associated Group of Hospitals, Jodhpur (Rajastha, Western India. Donors were evaluated for seroprevalence of HIV, HBV, HCV and Syphilis. A Total 46,957 donors were tested, out of which 42,291 (90.1%) were replacement donors and 4666 (9.0%) were voluntary donors. The incidence of HIV was 0.44% in total donors, more in replacement (0.461%) as compare to voluntary (0.279%). The seroprevalence of HBV in total donor was 3.44%. The replacement donors had high incidence (3.52%) as compared to voluntary donors (2.57%). The incidence of HCV seropositivity was 0.285% (5 month data), all were replacement donors (0.328%). The seroprevalence of VDRL in total donor was 0.22%, more in replacement donor (0.239%) as compare to voluntary donors (0.129%). Hence forth, it has been observed that voluntary blood donation is more safe and advocated as compare to replacement donation, as high incidence of HIV, HBV, HCV and Syphilis are observed in replacement donors.