Prevalence of serological markers and nucleic acid for blood-borne viral infections in blood donors in Al-Baha, Saudi Arabia.

Introduction: Data on blood-borne viral infections in some regions in Saudi Arabia remain scarce. This study investigates the prevalence of serological markers and nucleic acid for blood-borne viruses among blood donors in Al-Baha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Methodology: In this cross-sectional study, 2,807 donors who donated blood between January 2009 and November 2011 were investigated for blood-borne viral serological markers including HBsAg, anti-HBc, anti-HBs, anti-HCV, anti-HIV, and anti-HTLVI/III in addition to viral nucleic acid.