Syphilis testing in blood donors, France, 2007 to 2022

Publié le 4 septembre 2024
Mis à jour le 3 septembre 2024

Background : Syphilis in blood donors (BD) has increased in many countries.AimWe aimed to describe trends in syphilis seroposivity in BD in France, to identify risk factors and assess if a non-treponemic test (NTT) could define BD having recovered from syphilis for more than 1 year. Methods : The analysis covered the period 2007 to 2022 and 45,875,939 donations. Of the 474 BD syphilis-positive in 2022, 429 underwent additional investigations with an NTT. History of syphilis was obtained at the post-donation interview or based on serology results for repeat donors. Results : Until 2021, positivity rates remained stable (mean: 1.18/10,000 donations, range: 1.01-1.38). An increased rate was observed in 2022 (1.74/10,000; p = 0.02). Over the whole study period, prevalence was 2.2 times higher in male than in female BD (4.1 times higher in 2022). The proportion of males with an identified risk factor who have sex with men increased from 16.7% in 2007 to 64.9% in 2022. Based on NTT, 79 (18%) of the donors who were seropositive in 2022 were classified as having been infected in the previous year. History of syphilis was available for 30 of them. All had an infection within the previous 3 years. Among seven donors with a syphilis 

Auteur : Laperche Syria, Sauvage Claire, Le Cam Sophie, Lot Florence, Malard Lucile, Gallian Pierre, Pouchol Elodie, Richard Pascale, Morel Pascal, Grange Philippe, Tiberghien Pierre, Benhaddou Nadjet, Dupin Nicolas
Eurosurveillance, 2024, vol. 29, n°. 32, p. 13-21