{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,12]],"date-time":"2026-06-12T14:11:26Z","timestamp":1781273486095,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,1]],"date-time":"2023-06-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1685577600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>Seroprevalence of transfusion-transmitted viral infections (TTVIs) is a valuable indicator for assessing blood safety, population health and health system performance in the times of peace and conflicts. Only scarce information is available on the impact of the decade-long violent conflict on the prevalence of TTVIs in Syria. Moreover, hepatitis B vaccine was introduced to the national vaccination program in 1993; however, no data is available on the vaccine effectiveness.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>In this retrospective cross-sectional study, we compiled the screening results for major TTVIs, namely hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV), of volunteer donors at Damascus University Blood Center from May 2004 to October 2021. Prevalence was expressed in percentages for the entire study group and subgroups. Chi-square test and linear regression were used to examine the differences and describe trends in prevalence, respectively, based on demographic characteristics (i.e., age and gender) and time. <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>-value of &amp;lt;0.005 was considered statistically significant.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Of the total 307,774 donors (82.27% males, median age 27 years), 5,929 (1.93%) had serological evidence of at least one TTVI, and 26 (0.0085%) had multiple infections. The lowest prevalence (1.09%) was detected in donors aged 18\u201325 years old, and a higher prevalence (2.05%) was evident in males in comparison with females (1.38%). The seroprevalence of HBV, HCV, and HIV was 1.18, 0.52, and 0.23%, respectively. Trend analyses revealed a significant regression in HBV and HIV prevalence from 2011 to 2021. HBV seropositivity depicted a temporal decline by ~80%, from 0.79% in 2011 to 0.16% in 2021 in those born in 1993 and thereafter.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title><jats:p>The seroprevalence of HBV, HIV, and to a lesser extent HCV dropped over the study 18-year period. Possible explanations may include implementation of the HBV vaccine, robust national health system, conservative sociocultural values, and isolation.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2023.1174638","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,1]],"date-time":"2023-06-01T04:54:14Z","timestamp":1685595254000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Seroprevalence and trends of hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus and human immunodeficiency virus in Syrian blood donors at Damascus University Blood Center between 2004 and 2021"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Alia","family":"Alassad","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mhd Jawad","family":"Al Rahwanji","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Amal","family":"Yousfan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sally","family":"Al Moualem","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Arwa","family":"Farhat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lama A.","family":"Youssef","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","unstructured":"2014"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e3","DOI":"10.18295\/squmj.2018.18.01.002","article-title":"Transfusion in Haemoglobinopathies: review and recommendations for local blood banks and transfusion services in Oman","volume":"18","author":"Al-Riyami","year":"2018","journal-title":"Sultan Qaboos Univ Med J."},{"key":"B3","unstructured":"2021"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"100588","DOI":"10.1016\/j.blre.2019.100588","article-title":"Challenges of blood transfusions in \u03b2-thalassemia","volume":"37","author":"Shah","year":"2019","journal-title":"Blood Rev."},{"key":"B5","unstructured":"2021"},{"key":"B6","unstructured":"2022"},{"key":"B7","unstructured":"2022"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1533","DOI":"10.1080\/21645515.2020.1732166","article-title":"Hepatitis B vaccine development and implementation","volume":"16","author":"Zhao","year":"2020","journal-title":"Hum Vacc Immunother."},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1234","DOI":"10.4254\/wjh.v13.i10.1234","article-title":"In the era of rapid mRNA-based vaccines: why is there no effective hepatitis C virus vaccine yet?","volume":"13","author":"Echeverr\u00eda","year":"2021","journal-title":"World J Hepatol."},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e809","DOI":"10.1016\/S2352-3018(19)30230-9","article-title":"The global burden of HIV and prospects for control","volume":"6","author":"Pandey","year":"2019","journal-title":"lancet HIV."},{"key":"B11","unstructured":"2022"},{"key":"B12","unstructured":"2022"},{"key":"B13","unstructured":"2021"},{"key":"B14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"148","DOI":"10.1186\/s12985-018-1060-1","article-title":"Systematic review and meta-analysis of HIV, HBV and HCV infection prevalence in Sudan","volume":"15","author":"Badawi","year":"2018","journal-title":"Virol J."},{"key":"B15","unstructured":"2023"},{"key":"B16","unstructured":"2022"},{"key":"B17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e2016046","DOI":"10.4084\/mjhid.2016.046","article-title":"Seropositivity of Hepatitis B and C among Syrian Multi-transfused Patients with Hemoglobinopathy","volume":"8","author":"Yazaji","year":"2016","journal-title":"Mediterr J Hematol Infect Dis."},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"262","DOI":"10.1007\/s15010-001-9156-7","article-title":"Prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis C virus among hemodialysis patients in Damascus, Syria","volume":"29","author":"Othman","year":"2001","journal-title":"Infection."},{"key":"B19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"267","DOI":"10.26719\/2016.22.4.267","article-title":"Hepatitis B and C in the Syrian Arab Republic: a review","volume":"22","author":"Bashour","year":"2016","journal-title":"Eastern Mediterranean Health J."},{"key":"B20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"442","DOI":"10.5958\/0974-360X.2021.00080.9","article-title":"Hepatitis B and C among blood donors in Tartous city, Syria. 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