Association between ABO Blood Groups and Transfusion-Transmitted Infections Among Blood Donors in Nantong, China

BACKGROUND: ABO blood groups have certain connections with the occurrence of various infectious diseases. This article mainly explored the association between transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs) and ABO blood groups and identified other possible influencing factors. METHODS: This study retrospectively analyzed the TTIs results of 257,117 blood donors and analyzed the relationship between age, gender, and blood groups and TTIs. RESULTS: The treponema pallidum (TP) infection rate in A and AB blood donors were significantly higher than that in B and O blood donors (p = 0.023), and the TP infection rate in women was significantly higher than that in men (p = 0.007). Age is an independent risk factor for HBsAg and TP infection [OR (95% CI): 1.4 (1.32 - 1.49), 1.44 (1.38 - 1.51)], and the infection rate gradually increases with age (p for trend 0.001). There may be a significant as-sociation between blood group A and TP infection risk [adj. OR (95% CI): 1.13 (1 - 1.28), p = 0.045], and the risk of blood group A increased by 13% compared with non-A group. Blood group A is an independent risk factor for TP infection. There is a significant association between blood group AB and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection risk [adj. OR (95% CI): 0.71 (0.52 - 0.96), p = 0.026]; blood group AB has a 29% lower risk of infection compared with the non-AB group, so blood group AB is an independent protective factor against HBsAg infection. CONCLUSIONS: The positive rate of TTIs among local blood donors is related to blood group and age, which has certain guiding significance for the recruitment of blood donor TTIs screening.