Prevalence of hepatitis B virus in blood donors

ABSTRACT

There is no treatment available once get infected with hepatitis B virus. Transfusion of blood contaminated with HBV is one of the major risk factors for increasing its Seroprevalence. To determine the prevalence of Hepatitis B virus in healthy blood donors. A prospective descriptive study. This study was conducted in department of pathology Combined Military Hospital Multan during a period of three years from 01.07.2007 to 30.06.2010. A total number of 18042 blood donors in between 18-55 years of age were screened for transfusion related carriers of infectious diseases including hepatitis B virus by ELIZA technique. Hepatitis B virus suface antigen was detected in 561 [3.1%] Seroprevalence of hepatitis B is high even in healthy and young blood donors. Therefore every donor should be screened for it