Seroprevalence of common transfusion-transmitted infections among blood donors in Bangladesh

Abstract

Transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs) remain a major global public health problem and a challenge to transfusion services worldwide particularly in developing countries in managing transfusion-dependent children especially the thalassaemics. However developed countries are not exempt from TTIs despite multiple layers of protection in their advanced blood collection centres. The magnitude of this problem is directly related to the prevalence of TTIs among blood donors. To assess the global burden of TTIs the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 3% of the world’s population (.170 million people) are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). The global prevalence of HCV reported by the WHO ranges from 10 to 15% to as little as 0.04%. HCV in blood donors varies from 0.4 to 19% including 0.9% among Namibian first-time blood donors. The overall prevalence of HCV in Bangladesh as documented in the WHO’s records ranges between 1 and 2.5% whereas it was observed in 2.4% of professional donors (poor people who sell their own blood to make a living and who have had no evident disease) in Bangladesh. However in voluntary donors (healthy adults who only donate blood in emergencies) in India the prevalence of HCV ranged from 0.8 to 1.78%. In Japan and Germany figures of 0.6% and 0.2–0.8% respectively have been reported. (excerpt)