Frequency of Hepatitis B, C and HIV Infections among Transfusion-Dependent Beta Thalassemia Patients in Dhaka.

Golam Sarower Bhuyan,Md Imam Ul Khabir,Md Abu Sayeed,Syed Saleheen Qadri,Aftab Uz Zaman Noor,Firdausi Qadri,Suprovath Kumar Sarker,Nusrat Sultana,A K M Ekramul Hossain,Syeda Kashfi Qadri,Zebunnesa Zeba,Kaiissar Mannoor,Farjana Akther Noor,Md Ruhul Furkan Siddique,Muhammad Tarikul Islam,Rosy Sultana

doi:10.3390/idr13010011

Abstract

Transfusion transmitted infections have remained a major deterrent to public health, particularly among the patients with transfusion-dependent Beta thalassemia in developing countries. Although proper donor selection through adoption of WHO-advised infection panel has lowered the rate of infections, the multi-transfused patients are not free of risk. In this study, we screened 148 transfusion-dependent Beta thalassemia patients to determine the frequency of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) using the ELISA method. Among them, infected cases with HCV, HBV and HIV were 13.51%, 3.37% and 0%, respectively. Moreover, 2% of the patients were found to be co-infected with both HBV and HCV. The percentage of infections in the patients with frequent transfusion interval (≤30 days) was significantly higher (p < 0.0005) than that in the patients with less frequent transfusion intervals (>30 days). Immunochromatography (ICT)-based rapid test kits are usually used to screen and confirm these infections in the blood of the patients. However, ICT-based tests are not sensitive enough to detect the infections. So, a combination of both Nucleic Acid testing (NAT) and serological testing are suggested to significantly reduce the risk of viral infections during blood transfusion.

Highlights

Million units of blood are collected from the donors worldwide as the blood transfusion is integral to management of patients suffering from diverse diseases, hematological disorders
The present study investigated the frequency of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infections among transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia patients of the Thalassemia Samity and Hospital using ELISA method with the aim to explore the efficacy of rapid diagnostic test (RDT) based screening method
These patients were in the age range of 2–46 years (90 patients were

Summary

Introduction

Million units of blood are collected from the donors worldwide as the blood transfusion is integral to management of patients suffering from diverse diseases, hematological disorders. Transfusion transmitted infections (TTIs) continue to be a major public health issue in many parts of the world and multi-transfused patients of Thalassemia (a group of inherited hemoglobinopathies caused by mutations in the beta globin chain of hemoglobin) are at a increased risk of TTIs [2,3]. These inherited blood disorders generally occur in the countries of thalassemia belt including Mediterranean and portions of West Africa, North Africa, Middle East and South Asian countries including Bangladesh, India, and Sri. Lanka [4]. Hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), West Nile virus (WNV), human T cell lymphotropic viruses I, II (HTLV-I/II) had been reported most frequently, HCV and HBV had been known as the most prevalent etiological agents of chronic viral hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma among the thalassemia patients [6]

Methods

Results

Conclusion