Decreasing trends in HTLV-1/2 but stable HIV-1 infection among replacement donors in Argentina

In Argentina, current procedures to ensure safety of the blood supply for transfusion include reviewing the records of blood donors with particular attention to the serologic detection of specific blood borne infections. Data of 28,483 blood donations received from January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2008 in a public hospital in Buenos Aires were analyzed. Of the 28,483 blood donations, 7,442 (26.1%) were female donors, 14,582 (51.2%) were younger than 35 years old, and 23,746 (83.4%) were Argentine. Among all, only 285 (1.0%) were voluntary donations. The prevalence of HTLV-1/2 was 0.1% (95% CI 0.063-0.15), being 0.07% for HTLV-1 and 0.03% for HTLV-2. The prevalence of HIV-1 was 0.2% (95% CI 0.110-0.206). No HIV-1/HTLV-1/2 co-infections were detected among volunteer donors. During this study period, data confirm that HTLV-1/2 infection was not endemic in Buenos Aires, and that the prevalence of HTLV-1/2 decreased throughout while HIV-1 was stable. Due to the small number of voluntary donations, we could not conduct comparisons to infection rates in replacement donations. Although there have been several ongoing programs aimed at recruiting voluntary blood donations and changing from mostly replacement donations to an altruistic system of blood donations, Argentina is still far from reaching this objective. Additional efforts are needed in order to increase and assure the quality of blood supply in this country. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Fil: Berini, Carolina Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida; ArgentinaFil: Gendler, Silvina A.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Juan A. Fernández"; ArgentinaFil: Pascuccio, Susana. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Juan A. Fernández"; ArgentinaFil: Eirin, Maria Emilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida; ArgentinaFil: McFarland, Willi. University of California; Estados UnidosFil: Page, Kimberly. University of California; Estados UnidosFil: Carnevali, Luisa. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Juan A. Fernández"; ArgentinaFil: Murphy, Edward. University of California; Estados Unidos. Blood Systems Research Institute; Estados UnidosFil: Biglione, Mirna Marcela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida; Argentin