Prevalence of irregular red blood cell antibodies among healthy blood donors in South India

Abstract

Background: Although antibody screening is mandatory according to the National Blood Policy of India, the prevalence of irregular red cell antibody and its specificities are not much reported in South Indian population. Aims and Objectives: The objective of this study is to find the prevalence of irregular red cell antibodies and positive direct antiglobulin test (DAT) in healthy blood donors in South India population. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective observational study conducted in the department of transfusion medicine from April 2011 to March 2018 (7 years) at a tertiary care referral center, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Red cell antibody screening of all voluntary blood donors was performed using commercial O cells (ID DiaCell Pool, DiaMed, Cressier sur Morat, Switzerland). Positive sera were further investigated to identify the irregular erythrocyte antibody by commercially available red cell panel (ID-DiaPanel, Diamed-ID Microtyping System). Results: A total of 40,629 donors were screened for the presence of irregular erythrocyte antibodies. A total of 57 (0.14%) donors showed the presence of irregular antibodies, in which 41 (71.9%) were alloantibodies. Most frequent alloantibodies identified were of MNS blood group system with anti-M being the highest (n = 15, 36.58%), followed by Rh blood group system. Sixteen (0.039%) donors were DAT positive, which were detected during routine crossmatching. Conclusion: Implementation of red cell antibody screening in all the blood donors routinely helped us understand the prevalence of antibodies in our region and its importance in providing compatible blood products and to avoid transfusion reactions.