Is syphilis test necessary in blood donors?

Background: A syphilis test is performed in blood donors because the national transfusion law makes it mandatory, nevertheless the blood has not been found as an important vehicle of transmission for Treponema pallidum infection. Our objective was to know the prevalence of syphilis in blood donors.

Methods: we reviewed tests from blood donors of the "Banco Central de Sangre del Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI" in two periods, the first from July 2001 to April 2003, and the second from March 2005 to June 2006. Both groups went through screening tests, such as VDRL or USR. and a second test for confirmation, FTA-ABS for the first group and TPHA for the second group.

Results: in the first group 111 030 blood donors were included. In this group the positive results from VDRL or USR tests were 471 (0.42 %). One hundred and ninety six were confirmed (0.17 %) with FTA-ABS. In the second group results from 80 578 blood donors were included; the positive results from VDRL or USR tests were 279 (0.34 %). In this group, only 0.08 % were confirmed for a syphilis infection.