Sickle cell trait among blood donors in the democratic republic of the Congo: which transfusion policy for Sickle cell patients?

Abstract

BackgroundPrevalence of sickle cell trait is high in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Blood services, therefore, face the risk of collecting blood units from donors with sickle cell trait.ObjectiveThis study aimed to determine the frequency of haemoglobin S among blood donors in Kinshasa.Materials and MethodsThe study was carried out in the period from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2015, and 250 blood donors, who gave their consent, were selected using convenience sampling method when donating blood at the National Blood Transfusion Centre in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. For the testing, blood samples (2 ml) were obtained at the time of blood donation, added to EDTA tubes, mixed and processed within 24 h. The haemoglobin variants were determined by electrophoresis on alkaline agarose gel and confirmed on acid gel.ResultsAmong the 250 blood donors, 20·8 % were female and 79·2%, male. Blood donors in the age range from 25 to 29 years were the most represented, accounting for 23·2%. The youngest donor was 19 years old and the oldest, 58 years old. None of the donors were aware of the HbS status and all have donated previously. According to the haemoglobin variants, 23·6% were confirmed as AS and 76·4%, as AA.ConclusionThe proportion of blood donors with HbS is high in the DRC. The possibility of implementing the compulsory routine screening of sickle cell trait (SCT), using sickle cell rapid test, should be explored and the supply of blood units from donors with SCT to patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) should be avoided, whenever possible.