Journal of Medical Sciences and Health (Jul 2017)
Blood Groups and Transfusion Transmitted Diseases - are they Related?
Abstract
Background: Screening of blood is now a routinely done procedure in all blood banks. It is mandatory to screen blood for transfusion transmitted diseases (TTD) as blood transfusion can cause transmission of infections to its recipients. Blood is a major source of hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Proper screening and donor selection can minimize these hazards. Further also, the magnitude of transfusion transmitted infections (TTI) varies from country to country depending on the TTI load in that particular population. Aim: To find out the correlation between the TTD and blood groups and the seroprevalence of HIV, HBV, HCV, and syphilis among the apparently healthy human blood donors in a teaching hospital in Central India. Patients and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted at the blood bank of a tertiary health care teaching center for a period of 1 year (January 2015-December 2015). A total number of voluntary donors screened during this period were 6592. Samples were tested for HIV, HBV and HCV, syphilis, and malaria. Results: Of total 6592 voluntary donors, male donors were 6496 (98.54%), and female donors were 96 (1.45%). A total of 113 seropositive cases were present (1.714%). Highest seropositivity was found in HBV (1.12%). Blood group B was more prone to TTIs with HIV, HCV, HBsAg, and venereal disease research laboratory (34.51%). Conclusion: These study results reflect the prevalence of these infections in the healthy voluntary blood donors. Hence, routine screening of all TTDs is a must and must be done routinely in all blood banks. Further, this study also addresses the need of properly detailed history taking of the donors and the need to encourage only voluntary blood donation. Does blood group B predispose to TTIs? A finding which makes us ponder.
