Seroepidemiological study on hepatitis C virus infection among blood donors from various regions in China

A total of 2,273 blood donors from various regions in China were tested for serum anti-HCV antibodies in a seroepidemiological study. The prevalence of anti-HCV in Volunteer blood donors was 0-1.10%, which was lower than that in professional blood donors from Liaoning and Anhui Provinces (1.49% and 3.14%, respectively), whereas the positivity rate of anti-HCV was as high as 30.13% in the professional blood donors from Hebei Province and 31.86% in those from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The prevalence of anti-HCV was significantly higher in the blood donors with history of hepatitis and abnormal ALT levels than those without hepatitis and with normal ALT. Plasma donation was the main cause of HCV infection. However, the prevalence of anti-HCV showed no significant sex and age differences even though the anti-HCV activity profile showed geographic difference.