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. 2013 Aug;18(8):674-82.

Prevalence and trend of hepatitis C virus infection among blood donors in Iran: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Mazaher Khodabandehloo  1 , Daem Roshani  2 , Kourosh Sayehmiri  3
Affiliations

Prevalence and trend of hepatitis C virus infection among blood donors in Iran: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Mazaher Khodabandehloo et al. J Res Med Sci. 2013 Aug.

Abstract

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the main causative agent of post-transfusion hepatitis. The virus is distributed worldwide with varying prevalence in different countries, which could easily lead to chronic infections, cirrhosis, and even hepatocellular carcinoma. The aim of this study was to investigate prevalence of HCV infection and its trend in Iranian blood donors.

Materials and methods: Literatures on the HCV prevalence among blood donors in Iran were acquired through searching PubMed, Magiran, IranMedex, Scientific Information Databank, and Google databases. All the potentially relevant papers were reviewed independently by two investigators by assessing the eligibility of each paper and abstracting data. Prevalence was calculated using random effects model for meta-analysis.

Results: Forty-eight studies with total samples of 10,739,221 persons from 1996 to 2011 were combined and meta-analyzed, the pooled prevalence of HCV infection among blood donors in Iran provinces and cities was 0.5% (95% CI: 0.4-0.6%). Trend of HCV infection was decreasing in recent years.

Conclusion: This study provides a comprehensive and reliable data on the prevalence and trend of HCV infection among blood donors and may be helpful in providing insight into disease burden and opportunities for prevention. In comparison with countries in this geographic region, Iran has the lowest rate of HCV infection.

Keywords: Blood donors; Iran; hepatitis C virus; prevalence; seroepidemiology; transfusion.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Graph 1
Graph 1
Prevalence of HCV infection among blood donors in Iran provinces and cities. The software package was limited in reporting the number of decimals more than two digits
Graph 2
Graph 2
Prevalence of HCV infection among blood donors study periods in Iran
Graph 3
Graph 3
Statistical analysis of HCV infection among blood donors in Iran based on study periods
Figure 1
Figure 1
Prevalence (proportion) of HCV infection among blood donors at different study periods
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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