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Hepatitis‐Associated Markers in the American Red Cross Volunteer Blood Donor Population
Author(s) -
Bastiaans M. I. S.,
Dodd R. Y.,
Nath N.,
PinedaTamondong G.,
Sandler S. G.,
Barker L.F.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
vox sanguinis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.68
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1423-0410
pISSN - 0042-9007
DOI - 10.1111/j.1423-0410.1980.tb01830.x
Subject(s) - volunteer , blood donor , medicine , immunology , population , virology , biology , environmental health , agronomy
From January 1975 to December 1978, 19,140,169 units of blood were collected by the American Red Cross at 57 regional locations. Each unit was tested for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) by a single commercial radioimmunoassay test system. A total of 15,954 donations were reported reactive, representing a rate of HBsAg reactivity of 0.83/ 1,000 units tested. The rate during 1975 was 0.94/1,000 units tested, decreasing to 0.71/1,000 units tested in 1978 (p<0.005). The prevalence of HBsAg among first‐time donors was 2.08/ 1,000 during 1977 and 1978, 2.7 times higher than that calculated for repeat donors (0.77/ 1,000 donors). Substantial geographic variation in the prevalence and rate of detection of HBsAg was observed.