Prevalence of transfusion transmissible infections and associated factors among healthy blood donors in North Indian population – 4-Year experience of licensed blood bank at tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Background: Unsafe blood transfusion proves very costly from both human as well as economic point of view. With every unit of blood transfused, there is 1% chance of transfusion transmitted infections (TTIs). In India, blood is screened for all those infections mandated by the World Health Organization, i.e., human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), syphilis, and also malaria. The aim of the present study is to determine the seroprevalence of TTIs and associated factors among healthy blood donors in North Indian population. Materials and Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted by reviewing the records of all blood donors for a period of 4 years from January 2016 to December 2019 at Blood Bank of our institution. Results: Out of total 10,797 healthy voluntary donors, 2338 (21.65%) were the motivated donors and 8459 (78.35%) were voluntary unpaid family donors. Majority of the donors were males, i.e., 10,332 (95.69%); female donors were 465 (4.31% only. Overall prevalence of TTI was 1.07% (116/10,797). The seroprevalence of the HIV, HBV, HCV, malaria, and syphilis was found to be 0.03%, 0.49%, 0.50%, 0.009% and 0.05%, respectively, which was found to be statistically significant (P < 0.001). Coinfection was not seen in any of the donors. Conclusion: The present study shows a seroprevalence of 1.07% for TTI with positivity of 0.50% for HCV and 0.49% for HBV. Individuals donating in blood camps made only 21.65%. Female donor participation was lean 4.31%. Efforts to motivate and ensure active participation of voluntary blood donors including females are needed.

Keywords

• hepatitis virus
• seroprevalence
• transfusion
• transmissible infections