ABSTRACT

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections with a high seroprevalence rate in adults are often asymptomatic or mild. The current prevalence of CMV DNA in Turkey is not known. This study aimed to find out the prevalence and quantity of CMV DNA in blood donors by PCR. Totally 1003 samples were collected between March and June 2016 at a regional blood bank for detection of CMV DNA in healthy blood donors by quantitative real-time PCR. CMV-DNA positive samples were tested for the presence of anti CMV IgM and IgG by ELISA. Among 1003 donors, 973 (97.01%) were male and 30 (2.99%) were female. Age distribution of donors was between 18-64; mean age was 27. Most of the donors were between 18-30 years old (75.47%) and male (97.01%). One donor was found as CMV DNA positive (0.099%). The DNA quantity for positive donation was 1,75x102 IU/ml. CMV DNA positive sample was positive for IgG, whereas negative for IgM. Although the seroprevalence of CMV is high in our country the CMV DNA prevalence was found very low (0.099%). Testing of CMV DNA in blood donation particularly for some specific patient groups and the clinical follow-up of blood donation with low level of CMV DNA should be considered.