Anti HCV seroprevalence among the voluntary blood donors in Thailand

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is an increasing problem, affecting large numbers of the population in both the developed and the developing parts of the world. It is generally accepted as a significant public health problem with major associated morbidities and mortalities, in particular hepatocellular carcinoma. One of several strategies for prevention of HCV transmission is screening for anti HCV serology among donated blood in the blood bank. However, screening for HCV infection varies considerably throughout the world; differences between resource-poor and resource-rich countries are particularly pronounced. This is a particular problem in the developing countries in Asia where HCV infection has high prevalence, this is especially the case among the underprivileged populations and those countries are usually less able to afford routine HCV serological screening in blood bank. In Thailand, HCV infection is an important infectious disease. However, screening for anti HCV serology is performed in only a few large blood banks. The purpose of this study is to summarize the prevalence of Anti HCV seropositivity among the voluntary blood donors in the previous reports in Thailand. This review identified 5 reports in the literature reporting data in 39,633 documented voluntary donors. In all there were 541 cases with Anti HCV seropositivity. The summative percentage for Anti HCV seropositive was 1.37%. This rate is similar to the high levels reported previously from many other Asian countries, implying the importance of HCV infection in Asia. Thorough donor screening to eliminate high-risk donors is recommended to improve blood transfusion services in Thailand and other developing countries and screening for Anti HCV serology should be set as the national strategies covering all blood banks.