Evaluating the prevalence of specific Treponemal antibodies in Iraqi blood donor

Abstract

Detection of specific antibodies to Treponema pallidum in serum is correlated with Syphilis. The study aimed to know the seroprevalence of Specific treponemal antibodies among Iraqi blood donors in relation to age and sex. This study was conducted on 8,147 subjects attending National Center for Blood Transfusion/Baghdad for donation of blood during January 2009 to May 2010. A total of 8,147 blood donors were screened to detect the presence of specific antibodies against Treponema pallidum by Treponema pallidum Haemagglutination Test (TPHA), according to standard test kit protocol, initially reactive samples were reconfirmed by repeat testing and repeatedly reactive samples were considered seropositive for Syphilis. The results of this study showed that seroprevalence of specific antibodies to Treponema pallidum among blood donors were found 1.75%. Moreover, the seroprevalence in males was 1.53% and in females was 0.22% .Furthermore, this study showed increase in seroprevalence was found among persons within second to third decade. The study revealed considerably higher Specific treponemal antibodies among the male donors than Female donors. In conclusion, our results indicate that syphilis is found among healthy donors in Iraq and that there is need to introduce Treponema pallidum Haemagglutination Test for the screening of donated blood for specific treponemal antibody in all blood transfusion centers in Iraqi governorates.