Profile of blood donations with a positive serology in Southern Brazil

The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of blood donors and the serological profile of the blood donations at the blood bank of the University Hospital Polydoro Ernani de São Thiago of the Federal University of Santa Catarina from January 2011 to December 2016.

The characteristics of donors and the serological results of the donated blood were compiled from databases. Only donations with a negative serology or a positive serology confirmed by second-sample testing were included in the study.

A total of 14,368 donations were included in the study, of which 118 (0.8%) had a confirmed positive serology. Of the total donations, 94.3% were from spontaneous donations and 5.7% from replacement donation. Donations were predominantly from men (54.1%), individuals aged 18 to 29 years (69.1%), and repeat donors (47.7%). Detection rates were higher for HBV (0.63%), followed by syphilis (0.13%), HIV (0.05%), HCV (0.02%), and Chagas disease (0.01%). With the exception of HIV, positive results were more frequent in the older age groups. Positive results for HBV, HCV, and HIV were more frequent among first-time donors. Replacement donations were more likely to have HBV (OR 7.7; 95% CI 4.9-12.1, p < 0.0001) and HIV (OR 6.7; 95% CI 1.3-34.7; p = 0.02) than spontaneous donations.

This study showed that the frequency of infections in blood donations at the HU-UFSC blood bank was lower than the national estimates and that our population may have a greater prevalence of syphilis among older donors.