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Tattooing and risk for transfusion-transmitted diseases: The role of the type, number and design of the tattoos, and the conditions in which they were performed

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 March 2002

S. DE A. NISHIOKA ,
T. W. GYORKOS ,
L. JOSEPH ,
J.-P. COLLET  and
J. D. MACLEAN
S. DE A. NISHIOKA
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McGill University, Montreal, Canada Division of Clinical Epidemiology, Montreal General Hospital, 1650 Cedar Av., Room L10 420, Montreal (Quebec), H3G 1A4, Canada Centro de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Brazil
T. W. GYORKOS
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McGill University, Montreal, Canada Division of Clinical Epidemiology, Montreal General Hospital, 1650 Cedar Av., Room L10 420, Montreal (Quebec), H3G 1A4, Canada
L. JOSEPH
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McGill University, Montreal, Canada Division of Clinical Epidemiology, Montreal General Hospital, 1650 Cedar Av., Room L10 420, Montreal (Quebec), H3G 1A4, Canada
J.-P. COLLET
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McGill University, Montreal, Canada Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Community Studies, Sir Mortimer B. Davis-Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Canada
J. D. MACLEAN
Affiliation:
McGill University Centre for Tropical Diseases, Montreal General Hospital, Montreal, Canada
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Abstract

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Tattoos have been shown to be associated with transfusion-transmitted diseases (TTDs), particularly hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections. Very little is known about the association between different categories of tattoos and TTDs. In a cross-sectional study in Brazil, we studied 182 individuals with tattoos and assessed the odds of testing positive for a TTD according to tattoo type, number, design and performance conditions. Major findings were significant associations between an increasing number of tattoos and HBV infection (odds ratio (OR) of 2·04 for two tattoos and 3·48 for [ges ] 3 tattoos), having a non-professional tattoo and testing positive for at least one TTD (OR = 3·25), and having [ges ] 3 tattoos and testing positive for at least one TTD (OR = 2·98). We suggest that non-professional tattoos and number of tattoos should be assessed as potential deferral criteria in screening blood donors.

Type
Research Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 128 , Issue 1 , February 2002 , pp. 63 - 71
Copyright
2002 Cambridge University Press