BACKGROUND: Mongolia has one of the highest rates of viral @entity99 worldwide yet risk factors have been largely unstudied. This sentinel study of @entity99 in Mongolia determined the prevalence of @entity1956 virus surface antigen (HBsAg) and @entity10745 virus antibody (anti-HCV) among a sample of blood donors and identified demographic and behavioral factors associated with @entity99 . STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Data were collected by interview from 923 Ministry of Health Blood Center donors between August 2004 and February 2005. The exposure variables collected included donor demographics and health and behavioral risk factors. Bivariate and multivariate analyses assessed the prevalence ratio of @entity99 for each exposure. RESULTS: Of 923 donors, 72 tested positive for HBsAg (7.8%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 6.1%-9.7%), 89 donors tested positive for anti-HCV (9.6%; 95% CI, 7.8%-11.5%), and six (0.6%) tested positive for both HBsAg and anti-HCV. Prevalence of HBsAg was highest among donors 18 to 19 years and anti-HCV tended to be most prevalent among those more than 40 years of age. Both pregnancy and @entity167 use were associated with seroprevalent anti-HCV. CONCLUSION: This sentinel study of @entity99 prevalence among Mongolian blood donors sheds considerable light on the epidemiology of @entity1956 as well as the sociodemographic and behavioral risk factors associated with @entity281 . Young age (HBsAg) and pregnancy (anti-HCV) were significant risk factors for @entity1956 , indicating that improvements in education, vaccination rates, and general @entity281 control procedures in health care institutions may reduce behavioral and nosocomial transmission.

Prevalence of and risk factors for XXXX and @entity281 among Mongolian blood donors.

@entity1956 :: ('MESH:D006509', 'Disease') :: ['hepatitis virus infection', 'hepatitis B'] @entity10745 :: ('MESH:D006526', 'Disease') :: ['hepatitis C'] @entity167 :: ('CHEBI:16236', 'Chemical') :: ['alcohol'] @entity281 :: ('MESH:D007239', 'Disease') :: ['infection'] @entity99 :: ('MESH:D056486', 'Disease') :: ['hepatitis infection', 'hepatitis', 'hepatitis infections']
@entity1956 :: (MESH:D006509,Disease) :: ['hepatitis B']
