en عمومى General پژوهشي Original article Background and Aims: Human parvovirus B19, a member of the parvoviridae family, with single-stranded DNA is a very minute non-enveloped virus. B 19 virus is mostly transmitted via the respiratory tract but some studies have been reported which B19 virus can be transmitted through blood and/or blood products. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of B19 among blood donors in Tehran. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the collection of samples was performed in Tehran blood transfusion center for a period of 6 months, from March 2005 through August 2006. Sera of 1640 blood donors who were negative for human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV), hepatitis B surface antigen (HBs Ag) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) were tested for immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) anti-B19 using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Then, all of the sera were tested for presence of B19 DNA through semi-nested Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Results: Out of 1640 blood donors, 8 (0.5%) subjects had IgM antibody thereby being reported positive 676 subjects (41.2%,) confidential intervals (CIs 95%= 42.7-50) were positive for anti-B19 IgG. B19 DNA was not found in any of the subjects (0%). Conclusion: The result of this study showed that none of the blood donors had detectable parvovirus B19 DNA. This means that there was a very low risk of transmission of parvovirus B19 through blood or blood derived products. It is recommended that more blood samples to be studied specially in high risk groups. Parvovirus B19, Blood donors, Prevalence, Antibodies 9 12 http://journal.isv.org.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-43&slc_lang=en&sid=1 M Mahmoodian-Shooshtari 10031947532846003679 10031947532846003679 Yes Blood Transfusion Research Center, High Institute for Research and Education in Transfusion Medicine, Tehran, Iran Z Sharifi 10031947532846003680 10031947532846003680 No Blood Transfusion Research Center, High Institute for Research and Education in Transfusion Medicine, Tehran, Iran