Abstract

Introduction: Transfusional safety remains a major concern in our environment where the permanent availability of the screening tests is not always guaranteed. The first aim of this work is to highlight the prevalence of HBV, HCV and HIV infections and to encourage systematic screening for these viruses. The second aim is to identify the risk incurred by the transfused person depending on whether the blood donor is a loyal blood donor or an improvised familialblood donor. Methods:We conducted a multicentric cross-sectional study at health centers and hospitals performing blood transfusion in Uvira, Kiliba and Lemera (Eastern D.R. Congo) between January 2018 and December 2022. Thirteen thousand and sixty-two blood donors were recruited. Statistical analyzes were done using the Epi Info 7.2 software and the corrected Chi-square or exact Fischer test (when recommended) was used to search for an association between the epidemiological variables. Measurement of association strength by Odds Ratios (95% confidence intervals) was used to compare frequencies observed across donor categories based on the presence of infectious markers. The threshold of significance was set at p <0.05. Results:On a total of 13062 donors, 483 (3.7%) were HIV-positive, 837 (6.4%) seropositive to HBV, and 208 (1.6%) HCV-positive. Among these infected donors (n=1528), 68.39 % N=1045) was infected by the viruses of the hepatitis. Compared to loyal donors, paid donors had 14.38 times the risk of having positive HIV serology (OR = 14.38 [5.16-40.06]), 6.53 and 30.89 times the risk for HBV (OR = 6.53 [3.20-13.34]) and HCV (OR = 30.89 [6.95-283.72]). Conclusion:In rural health zones we studied, blood receivers are at high risk of contamination with HIV, hepatitis by blood given by an unreliable blood donor. Transfusion safety measures should be strengthened by obligatory and systematic HBV and HCV research as well as HIV

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