Aim: To determine prevalence & age and gender distribution of HIV among blood donors and to study the trend of incidence of HIV positive Cases among them. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study conducted from from January 2001 to Dec 2015 for 15 years at RIMS, Teaching Hospital Blood Bank, Raichur. Serum Samples from Replacement and Voluntary Donors were tested for prevalence of HIV. Donors were selected by taking history, clinical examination (strictly following donor’s selection criteria) to eliminate professional donors, The donors were apparently healthy adults of the age group 18-60 yr. The donor blood samples were collected at the time of blood donation from the primary bag and tested for the presence of HIV using enzyme linked imunosorbent assay (ELISA). Inclusion Criteria: All blood donors (including voluntary and replacement blood donors) coming to donate blood either at Blood Bank, RIMS, Raichur as well as at various blood donation camps organised by blood bank were included in this study. Exclusion Criteria: Donors who did not fulfil the general criteria for blood donation, commercial and paid donors and also those with a history of high risk behaviour were excluded. Results: A total of 39090 blood donors were screened for HIV over a period of 15 years between January 2001 to December 2015. Out of which 38261 (97.88%) were males and 829 (2.12%) were females (Table 1). Age of the donors ranges from 18-52years. Out of 39090 donors screened for HIV, 148 donors were found to be reactive, comprising 0.37%. Out of 148 positive donors, 147 were males and one was female comprising 99.32% and 0.68% respectively. Conclusion: Prevalence of HIV among blood donors in our study showed 0.37%. Strict selection of blood donors with emphasis on getting healthy voluntary donors and comprehensive screening of blood donors for Human immunodeficiency virus and other transfusion transmissible infections using standard methods are highly recommended to ensure the safety of blood for receipients.

Keywords: HIV Prevalence; Blood Donors; Blood Bank.