Seroprevalence of infectious agents in blood donors from a hospital on the Southern border of Mexico.

BACKGROUND

Blood transfusion and its derivatives are an essential therapeutic action in the different hospital services. Despite the strict haemovigilance carried out in blood banks, there is still a residual risk of contracting infectious diseases through blood transfusion.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the seroprevalence of infectious agents in blood donors.

MATERIAL AND

METHODS

Retrospective and observational study. The detections were made in blood donors who came to the blood bank of the General Hospital Zone No. 1 of Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico, during the period from August 2020 to December 2023.

RESULTS

The general seroprevalence was 3.94%, with syphilis being most frequently found (1.37%), followed by brucellosis (1.17%), human immunodeficiency virus (0.55%), hepatitis C (0.34%), hepatitis B (0.19%), and Chagas disease (0.19%), with 0.10% of co-infection cases.

CONCLUSIONS

The seroprevalence of infectious agents in blood donors described in this study allows us to know an epidemiological overview of what happened in a city on the Southern border of Mexico, reaffirming syphilis as a re-emerging disease in this zone, with high prevalences of brucellosis and human immunodeficiency virus.