Prevalence and Association of Transfusion-Transmissible Infections with Age of Blood Donors: A Regional Transfusion Centre Study in Northern Pakistan.

Abstract

To evaluate the prevalence and association of Transfusion-Transmissible Infections (TTIs) with age of blood donors in a regional transfusion centre located in Northern Pakistan. Descriptive study. Place and Duration of the Study: Armed Forces Institute of Transfusion, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, from January 2017 to December 2021. All blood donors who qualified institutional blood donation criteria were initially screened for HBsAg, Anti-HCV Ab, HIV antigen-antibody combination and syphilis by an automated chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay analyzer (Architect Plus i 2000 SR, Abbott Diagnostics, Abbott Park, IL). Initially, all seronegative donor blood samples were subjected to nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT). All TTI-positive donors were immediately informed and counselled to consult the medical physicians for further treatment. Descriptive statistics and significance of association were determined. The prevalence of TTIs among blood donors was calculated to be 3.33% among 308,767 donors. HCV (1.4%) was the most prevalent TTI followed by syphilis (0.9%), HBV (0.68%) and HIV (0.26%), respectively. TTIs were most prevalent in the 26 to 35-year-old group, accounting for 5,143 (50.0%) positive donors (p<0.05). The prevalence of TTIs among blood donors was found to be 3.33%. HCV was the most common TTI, followed by syphilis, HBV, and HIV. The 26 to 35 year-old group had a significantly high prevalence of TTIs. Transfusion-transmissible infections, Hepatitis B virus, Hepatitis C virus, Human immunodeficiency virus, Treponema pallidum, Syphilis, Automated chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay analyzer, Nucleic acid amplification test.