TY - JOUR
T1 - Hepatitis C virus infection in former commercial plasma/blood donors in rural Shanxi Province, China
T2 - The China integrated programs for research on AIDS
AU - Qian, Han Zhu
AU - Yang, Zhongmin
AU - Shi, Xiaoming
AU - Gao, Jianhua
AU - Xu, Cuiling
AU - Wang, Lan
AU - Zhou, Kai
AU - Cui, Yan
AU - Zheng, Xiwen
AU - Wu, Zunyou
AU - Lu, Fan
AU - Lai, Shenghan
AU - Vermund, Sten H.
AU - Shao, Yiming
AU - Wang, Ning
N1 - Funding Information:
Received 22 March 2005; accepted 6 June 2005; electronically published 6 October 2005. Financial support: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (grant U19 AI51915-03 to Y.S.); Fogarty International Center (grant D43 TW010035-06 to S.H.V.). Potential conflicts of interest: none reported. Reprints or correspondence: Dr. Ning Wang, National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 27 Nanwei Rd., Xuanwu District, Beijing 100050, China (wangnbj@163.com).
PY - 2005/11/15
Y1 - 2005/11/15
N2 - Background. Unsafe practices during illegal plasma donation in the late 1980s and early 1990s spread blood-borne infections in central China. Methods. A cross-sectional survey of a random sample of 538 adult residents of 12 villages in rural Shanxi Province, where there had been an illegal commercial plasma-collection center, was conducted in 2003. Structured questionnaires were administered, and blood samples were tested for hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies. Results. HCV seroprevalence rates were 8.2% in all subjects, 27.7% in former commercial plasma/blood donors, and 2.6% in nondonors. Selling blood or plasma was the strongest independent predictor of HCV seropositivity (odds ratio [OR], 14.4 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 7.1-31.6]). A history of blood transfusion was also independently associated with HCV seropositivity (OR, 8.3 [95% CI, 2.1-32.0]). Plasma donors had a higher risk of being HCV seropositive than did whole-blood donors (OR, 7.6 [95% CI, 2.9-20.9]), and female donors had a lower risk than did male donors (OR, 0.32 [95% CI, 0.12-0.80]). The strength of the association between selling blood and HCV seropositivity was weaker when plasma donors were excluded (OR, 8.0 vs. 14.4). Conclusions. Unsafe practices during illegal plasma donation led to a high risk of HCV seropositivity for donors during the 1980s and 1990s. Failure to screen for HCV increased the risk of seropositivity for transfusion recipients during this same period. China has taken steps to halt illegal plasma collection and to improve blood-banking methods. However, there will be an ongoing challenge to care for patients with HCV infection, even as its incidence decreases.
AB - Background. Unsafe practices during illegal plasma donation in the late 1980s and early 1990s spread blood-borne infections in central China. Methods. A cross-sectional survey of a random sample of 538 adult residents of 12 villages in rural Shanxi Province, where there had been an illegal commercial plasma-collection center, was conducted in 2003. Structured questionnaires were administered, and blood samples were tested for hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies. Results. HCV seroprevalence rates were 8.2% in all subjects, 27.7% in former commercial plasma/blood donors, and 2.6% in nondonors. Selling blood or plasma was the strongest independent predictor of HCV seropositivity (odds ratio [OR], 14.4 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 7.1-31.6]). A history of blood transfusion was also independently associated with HCV seropositivity (OR, 8.3 [95% CI, 2.1-32.0]). Plasma donors had a higher risk of being HCV seropositive than did whole-blood donors (OR, 7.6 [95% CI, 2.9-20.9]), and female donors had a lower risk than did male donors (OR, 0.32 [95% CI, 0.12-0.80]). The strength of the association between selling blood and HCV seropositivity was weaker when plasma donors were excluded (OR, 8.0 vs. 14.4). Conclusions. Unsafe practices during illegal plasma donation led to a high risk of HCV seropositivity for donors during the 1980s and 1990s. Failure to screen for HCV increased the risk of seropositivity for transfusion recipients during this same period. China has taken steps to halt illegal plasma collection and to improve blood-banking methods. However, there will be an ongoing challenge to care for patients with HCV infection, even as its incidence decreases.
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U2 - 10.1086/497148
DO - 10.1086/497148
M3 - Review article
C2 - 16235166
AN - SCOPUS:27744534941
SN - 0022-1899
VL - 192
SP - 1694
EP - 1700
JO - Journal of Infectious Diseases
JF - Journal of Infectious Diseases
IS - 10
ER -