Journal of Nature and Science of Medicine (Jan 2020)
Prevalence of transfusion-transmissible infections among blood donors in Riyadh: A tertiary care hospital-based experience
Abstract
Background: Transfusion-transmissible infections (TTIs) such as hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and Treponema pallidum are a serious threat to the safety of recipients. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of 38,621 blood donors screened for TTIs between January 2016 and December 2018 at King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Viral serology comprised of detection of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and anti-core HBV antibody (anti-HBc), HCV antibody, and HIV antigen/antibody assays. Nucleic acid testing for viral genetic material was performed using Roche Cobas TaqScreen MPX v2 (Roche Molecular Systems, NJ, USA.) on Cobas s201 system. T. pallidum infection was confirmed by a reactive T. pallidum hemagglutination assay. Results: Of the total donors, 37,202 (96%) were males and 1419 (4%) were females, with a mean age of 30.3 ± 5 years. Majority of the donors (27,963; 72.4%) were Saudi nationals, whereas 10,658 (27.6%) individuals were of other nationalities comprising 24,356 (63%) volunteers and 14,265 (37%) repeat donors. The overall prevalence of TTIs among blood donors was 0.7%, with a prevalence of HBsAg of 0.29%, anti-HBc of 4%, HCV of 0.3%, HIV of 0.005%, human T-lymphotropic virus type I and II of 0.002%, and T. pallidum of 0.02%. No significant differences were observed in the annual prevalence rates of TTIs. Conclusion: Relatively low prevalence rates of TTIs were observed among the blood donors during the study period.
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