Determination of hepatitis C virus genotypes among blood donors in Ahvaz, Iran.

This study aims to determine the genotypes of hepatitis C virus (HCV) among blood donors at Ahvaz Blood Transfusion Centre. Blood samples were taken from 2376 blood donors - 1795 (75.54%) male and 581(24.45%) female - who referred to Ahvaz Blood Transfusion Centre during 2007-2008. Detection of anti-HCV antibody for all the donors was carried out by ELISA and the confirmatory RIBA tests. HCV RT-PCR followed by RFLP test was carried out for anti-HCV positive samples. Out of 2376 blood donors, only 55 (2.3%) male donors showed to be positive for HCV antibody by ELISA and RIBA tests out of which 45(1.8%) donors were positive for RT-PCR test. Female donors were negative for HCV antibody. The result of HCV genotyping by RFLP test showed 24 (53.3%) for 1a, 17 (37.7%) for 3a (a) and 4 (8.8%) for 3a (b) genotypes respectively. In conclusion, high prevalence of 53.3% HCV 1a genotype was observed among blood donors in Ahvaz city.