Seroprevalence with epidemiological determinants of hepatitis C virus and Treponema pallidum infection in blood donors of a teaching hospital in southwest Punjab, India: A 5-year study.

Background: A high seroprevalence of various transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs) in donated blood is the main safety concern, especially in low- and middle-income countries. As per the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation, all blood donations must be tested for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), Treponema pallidum infection, and malaria, which mainly comprises the major bulk of TTIs.

Aims: The purpose of this study is to observe the seroprevalence of hepatitis C virus and Treponema pallidum infection over the period of 5 years in blood donors of our blood center along with their epidemiological determinants with respect to age, sex, residence, occupation, and type of donors.