Seroprevalence of cytomegalovirus infection in Mauritian volunteer blood donors.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the seroprevalence of CMV antibodies in the Mauritian volunteer blood donor population and to establish a panel of CMV-seronegative blood donors.

STUDY SUBJECTS AND

METHODS

Five hundred and eighty four apparently healthy blood donors were screened for evidence of CMV infection by the complement fixation test. There were 551 males and 33 females with age ranging from 18 to 60 years.

RESULTS

Complement-fixing antibodies were found in 93.5% of the blood donors. The prevalence was 93.1% in males and 100% in females.

CONCLUSION

Our findings demonstrate that seroprevalence of CMV in the local blood donors is very high making CMV-seronegative blood very scarce. Therefore leucocyte-depleted blood should be used as an alternative to CMV-seronegative blood during transfusions.