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Comparison of prevalence rates of microbiological markers between bone/tissue donations and new blood donors in Scotland
Author(s) -
Galea G.,
Dow B. C.
Publication year - 2006
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.1423-0410.2006.00777.x
Subject(s) - blood donations , medicine , blood donor , immunology
Background and Objectives Blood‐borne virus prevalence rates of samples accompanying tissue donors are not widely available. This article compares the rates in Scottish bone/tissue donors with those of new blood donors for the 7‐year period, 1998–2004. Materials and Methods Data were collated from existing internal reports. Age distributions of the donor populations were obtained by extracting information from existing computer databases. Results Scottish bone/tissue donors were found to have a fourfold higher prevalence for hepatitis B virus (HBV), a 1·6‐fold higher prevalence for hepatitis C virus (HCV), an 11‐fold higher prevalence for human T‐cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) and a 34‐fold higher prevalence for syphilis compared with new blood donors. Excluding confirmed positives, the repeat‐reactive rates for bone/tissue donors were similar to those of new blood donors. Conclusions The data demonstrated that the prevalence of blood‐borne viruses in Scottish bone/tissue donors is higher than in new blood donors. We believe that the different age profiles of the two donor populations plays a significant role.