Seroprevalence of human immunodeficiency virus in voluntary blood donors: Declining trend

Background: Seroprevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in selected groups can produce an indication of secular trends of the infection. In this article, we studied the trend of HIV infection in voluntary blood donors over a period of 7 years. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in a blood bank of a tertiary care hospital. More than 16,500 donors were screened by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for HIV infection over a period of 7 years. Statistical Analysis: Trend analysis was performed to identify the year-wise HIV positivity pattern among the blood donors during the study period. Cochrane-Armitage Chi square for linear trend was applied to the data to observe whether there was any significant decline in HIV seropositivity among the blood donors. Results: In our study, the seroprevalence of HIV declined from 0.57% in 2006 to 0.18% in 2012. This declining trend tended to be statistically significant (Cochrane-Armitage Chi square for linear trend 3.65, P = 0.056). Conclusion: This study indicated the decreasing trend of HIV seropositivity among voluntary blood donors. Long-term surveillance of blood donors can provide important information on the course of the HIV pandemic.