Introduction: The Torque Teno Virus (TTV) can be transmitted through blood and blood products such as coagulation factors. People with haematological disorders, such as thalassemia patients, may be exposed to the pathological consequences of this virus. This study aims to determine how prevalent this viral pathogen is in individuals with thalassemia.
Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, serum samples were collected from 99 patients with thalassemia from a special disease center in Yazd city between August and September 2015. A Roche (Germany) DNA extraction kit extracted the genome from the patient's serum. Finally, the presence of the TTV genome was evaluated by a Nested polymerase chain reaction test.
Results: The data obtained from the molecular method revealed that the serum of 43 people with thalassemia was infected with TTV, among which 22 cases were observed in women and 21 cases in men (p = 0.525). The patients were significantly younger than 30. The frequency of TTV in thalassemia patients was not significantly affected by other parameters, such as gender, length of blood transfusion, and history of hepatitis C infection.
Conclusion: The data obtained from the present study confirmed the significant presence of the TTV virus in thalassemia patients, which can impact preventive measures and health programs in patients with blood disorders receiving blood factors.