Demographic and social characteristics of regular donors who sero-converted in Harare.

: Zimbabwe, like any other country, is currently experiencing a fast growing HIV/AIDS pandemic. A considerable number of infections are caused by blood transfusion. The aim of this study is to determine risk factors, events and socio-demographic characteristics associated with incidence of HIV infections and to prevent sero-conversion of regular blood donor. A retrospective cross sectional study was done. 22,922 regular donors at National Blood Transfusion Services in Harare were used. The number of all regular donors who sero-converted and their status during the 1999 to 2001 period were determined. About 327 (1.4%) of the regular donors sero-converted. Two hundred and seventy-four (84%) were males and 53(16%) were females. 52.6% of the males were married, 46.7% were single and .7% separated. 30.2% of the females were married, single women 67.9% and separated women 1.9%. Increased sero-conversion was associated with unemployment, high-density area residence and the sexually active age group (21 to 45 year olds). There was an association between gender and marital status among sero-converters (c2 = 8.48; P-value = 0.014) and males were likely to be older than females (t = 2.9; P-value = 0.0019). It can be concluded that unemployment and living in high-density residential areas are highly associated with HIV sero-conversion among regular donors. Single females, working class males and the sexually active age group are highly exposed to risk factors. It is recommended that donor education schemes and knowledge of these factors should be considered during donor recruitment.