Abstract
BACKGROUND Blood transfusion is a common life-saving medical procedure, but it may cause acute and delayed complications. A transfusion transmissible infection (TTI) is any infection that is transmissible from person-to-person through parenteral administration of blood or blood products i.e. packed red blood cells (RBC), platelets, plasma and other blood products. This study was undertaken to assess the prevalence of transfusion transmissible infections among blood donors in blood bank connected to a tertiary care hospital in Kerala and evaluate the safety of the blood donations. METHODS Samples of 13,262 donors from January to June 2018 were taken. All the donors who were accepted for donation as per criteria by national acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) control society were included in the study. Consent was obtained from blood donors to conduct testing for transfusion transmitted diseases. Donors were screened by 4th generation enzyme linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA) test kits for HIV-1/2, 3rd generation ELISA test kits for HBsAg and hepatitis C virus (HCV), rapid immunochromatographic test for malaria and rapid plasma reagin (RPR) test for syphilis. Tests were performed as per manufacturer instructions. All the reactive samples were discarded as per the guidelines. RESULTS Among 13,262 donors, 13,014 (98.12 %) were males and 248 (1.8%) were females within the age group of 18 - 60 years. Out of these, 7 (0.052%) donors were HBsAg positive and 3 (0.02%) were HIV positive. RPR reactivity was seen in 2 donors (0.01%) only. None of the blood donors tested showed positivity for HCV or malarial parasite. In this study, prevalence of hepatitis B was highest (0.052) followed by HIV (0.02%) and syphilis (0.02%). CONCLUSIONS Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is the most common transfusion transmissible infection among apparently healthy donors, followed by HIV and syphilis. TTI’s can be eliminated or reduced by implementing an integrated strategy for blood safety, like effective selection of blood donors, avoiding unnecessary transfusions, and early detection of TTIs. KEYWORDS Transfusion-Transmitted Infections, HIV, HBV, HCV
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