ABSTRACT
A retrospective study was done on blood donated at Department of Transfusion Medicine, Siriraj Hospital from 1987 to 1996. The total number of 274,288 units were donated from three types of blood donors : voluntary (61.31%), replacement (35.57%) and paid (3.12%) during 1987-1993. The serological infectious disease markers were found to be highest in replacement donors. The prevalence of anti-HIV, HIV antigen, HBsAg, anti-HCV and positive VDRL were 0.7%, 0.02%, 6.2%, 1.6% and 2.3% respectively. The prevalence of these markers in voluntary donors were 0.3%, 0.01%, 2.6%, 0.9% and 1.0% respectively. In conclusion, the serological infectious disease markers in blood donated at Siriraj Hospital during the 10 years period consisted of 0.44% anti-HIV, 0.01% HIV antigen, 3.7% HBsAg, 1.13% anti-HCV and 1.40% positive VDRL. It was also noted that the prevalence of these markers in new blood donors were higher than those found in repeat blood donors.