COVID-19 in Blood Donors at Laquintinie Hospital in Douala during the Third Wave: A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

This study was conducted at Laquintinie Hospital during the period between September 2021 and April 2022. The total number of cases who came to donate blood was 150 donors aged 18 to 60 years; 48 were excluded for several reasons. Several examinations were conducted for participants that were accepted for a study (n = 102 [2 (2.0%) were women and 100 (98.0%) men]), the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in nasopharyngeal samples was 11.8%. The mean CD4 count was 763.23 ± 194.61 cells/μl with endpoints [250 - 1400] cells/μl. IgG antibodies were present in 62.75% of cases. No statistically significant relation was found between SARS-CoV-2 carriage and IgG level or CD4 level (p = 0.850 & 0.056). Concerning the blood group, 57.3% (58) of the donors were of blood group O Rhesus positive; 19.4% (20) of blood type A Rhesus positive; and 2.9% were of blood group A Rhesus negative. Pupils and students represented 35.3% of our population, followed by employees at 25.5%. The SARS-CoV-2 positivity rate was 11.8% (n = 12). The transfusion transmitted infections (TTI) rate was 12.8% with 1.2% (1) positive HIV serologies, 5.8% (6) positive for HBsAg, 3.9% (4) for HCVAb, and 1.9% (2) positive TPA.