BACKGROUND: Transfusion of
Human immunodeficiency virus (
HIV ) infected
blood is probably the most effective means of
transmission of this
disease . Despite intense efforts and
investment to ensure
safety ,
transmission of
HIV still remains a real possibility in the transfusion service due to the fact that routine
laboratory tests in most Brazilian
government blood banks rely on the
detection of
antibodies . This leaves an immunological window period of from 16 to 22 days, which could be minimized to approximately 9 to 11 days if
nucleic acid amplification tests were employed in
screening .
OBJECTIVE: To analyze the profile of
blood donors who seroconverted to
HIV positive from 2008 to 2010 in the coordinating
blood bank of the
State of Pará in
respect to
gender , age,
marital status and
educational level .
METHODS: HIV seroconversion cases of
blood donors who donated on more than one occasion at the coordinating
blood bank of the
State of Pará were investigated.
Records from 2008 and 2010 were analyzed in
respect to
gender ,
marital status , schooling and age.
RESULTS: Among the 157,432 donations in this period, 45
HIV seroconversions were confirmed. Of these, 95.56 percent were
men , of which 86.67 percent were single, 53.33 percent had completed
high school and 40 percent were between 23 and 29 years old.
CONCLUSIONS: In order to improve the quality of
blood and reduce the residual
risk of
HIV transmission in
blood banks , it is necessary to know the profiles of
donors who most frequently seroconvert and use
nucleic acid amplification tests as routine
screening .