Comparison of Frequency three viruses HBV, HCV and HIV Based on ELISA and Western Blot Serology Methods at Blood Bank in Tehran, Iran

Background. Hepatitis B surface (HBs), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are three important causative agents of blood and blood product-transmitted infections worldwide. The objective of this study was to examine the prevalence of HBs, HIV, and HCV infections in the blood donor population of Tehran using serological techniques, specifically rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and western blotting (WB). Methods. In this descriptive and retrospective study, the documents of all blood donors who had been referred to the Tehran Blood Transfusion Organization between 2016-2017 were reviewed, and the results of their tests were evaluated. The present investigation assessed the prevalence of HBs, HCV, and HIV infections among donors using various methods like rapid diagnostic tests, ELISA, and Western blotting, together with SPSS software and statistical tests (chi-square, one-way ANOVA, Duncan's test) for data analysis. Results. This study found that out of 159000 blood donors, 1034 positive cases were detected using rapid diagnostic tests. After implementing the ELISA and WB techniques, positive cases decreased to 743 individuals. Approximately 65.28% of the blood donors were maleand 34.72% were female. 511 cases (49.42%) were married, while 523 (50.58%) were single.  The infection rate under 60 years was higher than that at >60 years. Approximately 451 cases (43.62% of the total) were labeled as unknown, indicating an unknown infection method. 253 (24.46%) low-risk, and 330 (31.92%) high-risk. However, ELISA and WB assays revealed that the prevalence rates followed a specific order: HBs exhibited the highest prevalence, followed by HCV, and then HIV. The AUC values for HBs, HCV, and HIV were 0.945, 0.920, and 0.998, respectively. Conclusion. Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are more specific but less sensitive and are not usually the first test. Western Blotting and ELISA tests have a confidence percentage over 98%. The consistency between virus prevalence among blood donors in the Tehran Blood Transfusion Center was observed using ELISA and WB methods.