Abstract
Plasmodium falciparum infection in blood donors is common in malaria endemic countries, including Ghana. To date, there are no established exclusion criteria to defer a donor carrying malaria parasites. Therefore, based on significant independent variables identified in this study, donor malaria screening algorithm was developed to be used by blood banks to screen blood donors for subclinical malaria. Each significant variable was weighted one (1) point and its alternative response was weighted negative one (−1) point. Accumulation of the points determines the risk level of the donor. These weighted points were used to categorize infected donors as having negligible (<2 points), tolerable (3-4 points), undesirable (5–8 points), or intolerable (>9 points) risk. Based on accumulated weight of ≥5 points, the algorithm was 94.7% (54/57) sensitive but 82% (298/364) specific. With this level of specificity, 18% of the blood donors without malaria would have been deferred. Therefore, it is imperative that all donors with accumulated risk ≥5 be screened for malaria using either malaria rapid test kit or microscopy.
Highlights
In sub-Saharan Africa, the prevalence of Plasmodium spp. parasitemia in blood donors ranges from 0.6% to 50.0% [5]
In spite of numerous reports on the occurrence of P. falciparum in blood donors, no study has reported on the demographic and transmission factors associated with P. falciparum infections in blood donors and exclusion criteria for deferment in Ghana and elsewhere
Malaria control practices significantly associated with subclinical malaria in blood donors identified in this study were not performing indoor residual spraying with insecticides, not using insecticide repellants, and frequent use of antimalarial herbal preparations (Table 5)
Summary
In sub-Saharan Africa, the prevalence of Plasmodium spp. parasitemia in blood donors ranges from 0.6% to 50.0% [5]. E district with the highest prevalence of subclinical malaria among blood donors was Ga South (19.3%) (males and females were 14.3% and 5.0%, respectively) followed by Ada East (16.1% (males 12.7% and females 3.4%)), Ga West (12.3% (males 9.8% and females 2.5%)), Ashaiman (8.5% (males 6.7% and females 1.8%)), and Accra Metro (3.9% (males 3.9%)) (Figure 1).
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