Seroprevalence of HIV and hepatitis C co-infection among blood donors in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal.

We assessed the seroprevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in different categories of blood donors and the hepatitis C virus (HCV) co-infection rate. A total of 33,255 blood samples were screened for HIV using a third generation ELISA test at the Central Blood Transfusion Service, Nepal Red Cross Society, Kathmandu from December 2006 to September 2007. The seroprevalence of HIV was 0.19% (95% CI= 0.15-0.25) and co-infection with HCV was found in 10.8% (95% CI= 4.4-20.9). There were no significant differences in HIV seroprevalence among the different categories of age, sex, type of donation and time of donation. The study revealed a relatively lower seroprevalence of HIV among blood donors in Kathmandu Valley than reported earlier but a higher HCV co-infection rate. The similar seroprevalence between first time and repeat donors suggests the need for more improved donor education and counselling.