• Fahimeh Ranjbar Kermani, Kamran Mousavi Hosseini, Sedigheh Amini Kafi-Abad, Mohammad Ali Mansournia, Zohreh Sharifi, and Mahtab Maghsudlu.
• Blood Transfusion Research Center, High Institute for Research and Education in Transfusion Medicine, Tehran, Iran.
• Arch Iran Med. 2019 Feb 1; 22 (2): 76-79.

BackgroundHepatitis C virus (HCV) viremia is described as persistent HCV RNA among HCV exposed individuals. HCV viremic rate is defined as the proportion of anti-HCV positive and HCV RNA positive individuals to total anti-HCV positive individuals. Knowledge about HCV viremic rate increases understanding HCV epidemiology and provides the likelihood of HCV viremia infection in a given population. The aim of this study was to evaluate HCV viremic rate and demographic parameter correlations among HCV confirmed Iranian blood donors.MethodsIn this analytical, cross-sectional study, serologically confirmed HCV positive blood donors, who were referred to the Iranian blood transfusion centers around the country from November 2015 to September 2017, were included. HCV RNA RT-PCR was carried out by an in-house qualitative assay. Penalized logistic regression was performed for data analysis. STATA software version 13 was used for statistical analysis.ResultsOut of 239 subjects, HCV RNA was amplified in 161 (67.36%, 95% CI 61.21% -73.51%). No statistical associations were found between age, gender, education and marriage status with HCV viremic rate. First time donation was found to be associated with HCV viremia status (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 3.26; 95% CI 1.07-9.87).ConclusionThe results of this study show the likelihood of active HCV infection occurrence among HCV confirmed Iranian blood donors, as the majority are in the active phase of HCV infection. The viremic rate was associated with first time donation. More effective donor selection process and paying special attention to maintenance of non-infected first time donors as a resource of regular donations are needed to improve blood safety. Follow-up studies on viremic first time blood donors are recommended to clarify impact of factors on the occurrence of HCV viremia.© 2019 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

22 keywords...

hide…