Hospital Blood Bank Research Articles

Transfusion pattern of blood products in a blood bank at a tertiary care hospital

Objectives: Blood products in modern-day transfusion practice include, Packed Red Blood Cells, Platelets, Leucocytes, Plasma, Cryoprecipitate, and individual plasma factors. The objective was to study the pattern of usage of various blood products for the commonest clinical indications and to have an overview of the production of blood components. Materials and Methods: In this study, usage of various blood products like Packed Red Blood Cells, Platelet concentrates, Fresh Frozen Plasma, and Cryoprecipitate were studied in the blood bank of Trichy SRM medical college hospital and research center, using blood bank records and correlating with clinical data during the period of June 2015 - June 2020. Observation and result: The pattern of usage among 14,511 units of blood components from June 2015 – June 2020 showed the frequency of usage of Packed Red Blood Cells was more than Fresh Frozen Plasma and whole blood. The usage of whole blood was more than Platelet concentrates and Cryoprecipitate. The most frequently used component was Packed Red blood cells – 7841 units (54%). The second most frequently used component was fresh frozen plasma – 3889 units (26.8%). In the next frequency whole blood- 1955 units (13.5%), platelet concentrates - 797 units (5.5%) and cryoprecipitate – 29 units (0.2%) were used. Conclusion: There has been an appropriate increase in the usage of blood products to meet the clinical demand in treating the patients with an increase in pathological conditions. Specific blood component transfusion should be encouraged for specific indications to reduce non-essential overload to the patients.

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English

Serum levels of total human Tau associated with axonal damage among severe malaria patients in Central India

Tau is a microtubule-associated protein (MAP) that is abundant in the axonal part of neurons of the central nervous system. Previous studies among African children and Vietnamese adults suffering from cerebral malaria (CM) showed the pathological significance of measuring circulatory total Tau levels. A pilot investigation was carried out to better characterise neurological pathogenesis among severe malaria patients in Central India. Serum levels of total human Tau (pg/ml) were measured by ELISA following manufacturer guidelines among hospital admitted P. falciparum malaria patients classified with different degree of severity (mild malaria = MM, non-cerebral severe malaria = NCSM, cerebral malaria survivors = CM-S and cerebral malaria non-survivors = CM-NS) using WHO, 2000 definitions, including healthy controls (HC) enroled from the hospital's blood bank. Categorical and numerical variables were analysed by applying appropriate statistical test using Stata 11.0 software. A total of 139 subjects (14 HC, 25 MM, 29 NCSM, 44 CM-S and 27 CM-NS) were included in this preliminary investigation. Serum levels of total human Tau were detected in 0% HC, 4.0% MM, 20.7% NCSM, 43.2% CM-S and 48.2% CM-NS patients. Compared to MM, percent Tau detection was significantly higher among severe malaria patients (p = 0.001). Further, compared to NCSM,% Tau detection was significantly higher in CM-S patients (Chi2 = 3.9, p = 0.048) & CM-NS patients (Chi2 = 4.7, p = 0.030). Percent Tau detection was also significantly higher among severe malaria cases presenting with multiple complications compared to those without multiple complications (p = 0.006). ROC analysis of serum Tau levels (pg/ml) revealed a fair AUC value (0.75) to distinguish CM-NS group (but not CM-S) from NCSM group. In conclusion, serum percent detection of total human Tau is associated with axonal damage among patients with different degree of P. falciparum malaria severity in Central India.

Analysis of Patterns of Adverse Transfusion Reactions and Management: A Novel Initiative toward Hemovigilance in a Teaching Hospital of South India.

Objective Blood transfusion being a major lifesaving frontline procedure in majority of clinical wards, has a high potential with risk for adverse events ranging in severity, thus warranting optimal usage of blood. Continuous monitoring of adverse transfusion reaction (ATR) and analysis of the reactions can promote better comprehension of various contributing risk factors. Hemovigilance being a quality indicator with data system assists in ensuring quality and safe blood transfusion. The present study was designed to analyze the incidence and nature of adverse transfusion-associated events reported to the blood bank from our teaching hospital located in the remote part of South-East Coastal region with emphasis on corrective and preventive actions. Materials and Methods The prospective study included all the ATR reported to our hospital blood bank over a period of 42 months. The transfusion reactions report forms filled by the clinicians were analyzed and the reactions were categorized into patterns. The associated risk factors for the reaction are evaluated with substantial laboratory and clinical parameters in reference to hemovigilance. Results Among 19,800 transfusions, 189 transfusion reactions were encountered with a ratio of 10:0.9 with age ranging from 12 to 80, with female preponderance. Reactions associated with whole blood (WB) transfusion were common (50%, p = 0.002) followed by packed red blood cells transfusion (PRBC) (1.4%, p = 0.006) and platelets (0.8%, p = 0.1). Febrile nonhemolytic transfusion reactions were predominant patterns noted in 122 cases followed by allergic reactions in 43 cases with more commonly associated PRBC transfusion whereas hemolytic reactions showed association with WB transfusion. No delayed reactions or mortalities were encountered. Conclusion The present study concludes with novelty showing the overall incidence of transfusion-associated reactions in the study domain is slightly higher than more advanced centers in India owing to lack of leukodepletion units which could enable to substantially retard the incidence of adverse events of transfusion as a general measure and febrile reactions in particular. Hemovigilance and pattern analysis of ATR provide scope for corrective and preventive action and give referral guidelines to prevent future recurrence.

Vox Sanguinis International Forum on Hospital Transfusion Services' Response to COVID‐19: Responses

Question 1Demographics:a. Beer Yaakov, Israel.b. Large academic medical center.c. 956 beds.d. 9034 RBC units issued in 2019, approximately 9000.e. 4831 confirmed SARS‐CoV‐2 cases and 17 deaths (March 31, 2020, 12:40 pm, data from the Israeli Ministry of Health).f. 9,136,000 inhabitants.g. The spread of SARS‐CoV‐2 in Israel is still increasing, but as of yesterday the rate of increase is declining sharply (from almost 30% of samples tested per day at the peak to 12% yesterday).

Increased expressions of cellular ATP-binding cassette transporters may be a promising diagnostic marker for colorectal cancer.

Objectives:To measure the blood expression levels of related drug-resistant ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and to assess these examined transporters for whether they present significant expression in connection with the tumor appearance of CRC.Methods:In this case-control study, the messenger ribonucleic acids were isolated from the blood of 62 CRC patients who were recruited from King Abdulaziz University Hospital Oncology Clinic and 46 controls from King Fahad General Hospital Blood Bank (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) from September 2016 to March 2017. The Biomedical Ethics Unit at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia approved this study. The expressions of ABC transporters were measured using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. GraphPad Prism 5 and REST 2009 Software were used to correlate the expressions with clinicopathological independent stages and body mass index. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant.Results:The results showed that the 3 ABC transporters, particularly ABCC1 (p<0.0001), were highly expressed in the blood of CRC patients compared with controls. However, none of the 3 transporters was related to the progression of CRC, age, gender, or body mass index.Conclusion:The expressions of ABC transporters were found to be significantly higher in CRC patients, and they may act as diagnostic markers and should potentially be tested for their contribution to drug sensitivity in CRC patients.

Estimated prevalence of the Duffy null phenotype Fy (a−b−) among black blood-donors in Southwestern Colombia

IntroductionHemolytic reactions are adverse complications associated with red blood cell transfusion. These reactions are associated with clinically important erythrocyte antigens, such as those of Duffy blood Meny (2010). Individuals with the Duffy null phenotype Fy (a−b−) are more likely to develop an alloimmunization reaction, resulting in an incompatibility with all available red blood cell units, thus increasing the risk of complications from their underlying disease Höher et al. (2018). Hence, it is important to determine the prevalence of the Fy (a−b−) phenotype in blood donors in our population and to create a database to ensure safe transfusion in patients with this phenotype. Moreover, we intend to establish whether there is any relationship between individuals with this phenotype and the sickle cell trait. We conducted this study to measure the prevalence of the Fy (a-b-) phenotype in our blood donors. Materials and methodsThis prospective, descriptive study included black blood donors visiting the blood bank of a tertiary care university hospital between January 2019 and July 2019. We used Fitzpatrick classification phototype VI and self-identification to select donors in the study. The presence of the Duffy antigens Fya and Fyb was determined by the Coombs test using monoclonal antibodies. To establish the presence of hemoglobin S (HbS) and sickle cell traits, a hemoglobin electrophoresis test was performed. ResultsWe included 166 patients in the study. Seventy-nine donors were identified as having Fy (a-b-). The prevalence of the Fy (a−b−) phenotype was 48 %. Sickle cell trait hemoglobinopathy was found in 6 blood donors (8%). ConclusionThis information is relevant for the implementation of a database of blood donors to guarantee the safety of transfusion in patients with a Fitzpatrick skin type 6at our institution. Moreover, it may provide information of interest to other blood banks in case donors with this phenotype are needed. No significant association was found between the donor Fy (a−b−) phenotype and the sickle cell trait.

The role of detection of anti-HBc IgM in HBs Ag negative blood donors

Background: Post Transfusion hepatitis B viral infection continues to be a major problem even after adoption of mandatory screening test, HBsAg by ELISA test in blood banks. In Egypt, HBsAg is still the only HBV screening test of blood donors in most bloods banks. However HBsAg negative blood donors does not rule out the risk of transmission of hepatitis B, as the donor may be in the ‘window period’ or has a mutant strain. During this period, detection of the antibody to the hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) IgM type serves as a useful serological marker. The objective of this study: To evaluate the significance of screening anti-HBc IgM for HBsAg negative blood donors to reduce the risk of transfusion transmitted HBV infection in Egypt.Study design and methods: Four hundred HBsAg negative blood donors were randomly selected from Alzahra university hospital blood bank, for further screening by anti-HBcIgM by ELISA test, then positive samples for anti-HBcIgM were tested for HBV DNA by PCR . Results: Nine (2.25%) out of selected 400 samples were positive for anti-HBcIgM, and 4 (1%) out of these 9 samples were positive for HBV DNA. Conclusion: Anti HBcAg IgM screening test should be implemented as an additional screening test for blood donors in Egypt, to improve transfusion safety as it is an indicator of occult HBV during window period .

Transfusion practices in the pediatric and neonatology departments of Soavinandriana hospital center

Blood transfusion is an important part of day-to-day clinical practice. The main objective of this work is to describe transfusion practices in the Pediatrics and Neonatology Department of the Hospital Center of Soavinandriana. Methods: A prospective observational study of 6 months has been conducted. All requests to Department of Pediatrics and Neonatology for blood for transfusion for children aged less than 14 years were identified prospectively. The variables studied were: patients’ characteristics (age, gender) reason for hospitalization, paraclinical examinations (blood count and formula before transfusion, ABO and Rhesus grouping), the presented pathology, the indicated transfusion: nature, incidents during and after transfusion and the outcome of the pathology (healing, death). Results: The incidence was 6.54%, 33 patients had a blood transfusion. The sex ratio was 1.35. The average age is 46.06 months. Skin pallor was the main reason for hospitalization, which represented 18.18% of the cases. The average hemoglobin level was 8.08 g/dl. The O and rhesus positive blood group was the predominant in this work. The blood products which were used were: red blood cell (n=20, 54.05%), whole blood (n=15, 40.54%), fresh frozen plasma (n=1, 2.70%), platelets concentrate (n=1, 2.70%). The National Center for Blood Transfusion of the Joseph Ravoahangy Andrianavalona University Hospital Center had delivered the vast majority of the used blood bags. Conclusion: The packed red blood cell was used the most and the hospital blood bank did not have enough labile blood products. It is therefore essential to improve the structures for the preparation of blood and its derivatives, in order to make all varieties of labile blood products accessible.

Transfusion Transmitable Infections and Reasons for Release of Total Blood to the Blood Bank of the Yaounde Centrall Hospital

Blood banks in sub-Saharan Africa regularly face shortages of blood products (PS). Several factors are responsible for this, including transfusion-transmissible infections (ITT) and deficiencies in the transfusion system. This study aims to determine the prevalence and the various reasons for rejection at the blood bank of the Central Hospital of Yaoundé. We first conducted a retrospective study at the blood bank of the Central Hospital of Yaoundé for 12 months between January 01, 2014 and December 31, 2014.Secondly, we carried out a prospective study in October 2015. Five milliliters (05 ml) of venous blood were taken from each participant in a tube without anticoagulant; patient samples were stored at -24°C. A rapid screening test and ELISA were used to test for HIV, HCV, HBs and syphilis on the samples taken. Approximately 15,028 bags of whole blood were drawn in 2014, of which 3,688 bags were rejected. This equates to a rejection rate of 24.54%. Discards for non-infectious reasons represented 3.51% and rejections for infectious reasons 21.03%. During the prospective study, among those selected, there were 95.74% men and 4.26% women. The average age of the participants was 30 years. Among the 705 people in this investigation, 185 blood bags were rejected. Infectious causes represented 22.55% (Hepatitis B and C, HIV and syphilis with a respective prevalence of 9.08%, 0.71% 6.95% and 5.82%) and non-infectious causes represented 3.68 % (clots, insufficient volume of PST, hemolysis and expiration with a respective prevalence of: 1.84%, 0.71 0.14% and 0.99%).The association between rejection of blood bags and qualitative variables was assessed. There emerged a significant association between the risk of rejection of a blood bag and the type of donor; condom use, number of partners, history of STIs. At the Yaoundé Central Hospital blood bank, the reasons for rejecting blood bags are divided into two categories: Mainly infectious and non-infectious. Also, certain risk variables such as not using a condom, multiple sexual partners and a history of STIs are risk factors that can encourage rejection of blood bags.

An international survey on the use of low titer group O whole blood for the resuscitation of civilian trauma patients in 2020.

An international survey on the use of low titer group O whole blood for the resuscitation of civilian trauma patients in 2020.

Estimation of Whole Blood(WB) and Anti-Hemophiliate Factor using Extended Kalman Filter in PMI Surabaya

Every hospital is required to have a Hospital Blood Bank (HBB), a service unit of the hospital responsible for the availability of blood for safe transfusion, of high quality and sufficient to support health services in the hospital and other health care centers. PMI (Indonesian Red Cross) continues to campaign for blood donations as part of a lifestyle (lifestyle). Every year, PMI set its targets of up to 4.5 million blood bags to meet the national blood needs, adjusted to the standards of the International Health Institute (WHO), which is 2% of the population for each day. With a continuous campaign by PMI, the stability of blood stock and distribution on target must be maintained, and the importance of blood distribution both blood coming from blood donors and blood distributed to PMI or other regional hospitals must be taken into account, therefore a software is required to estimate blood stock.for the blood banks. In this paper an estimation of Whole Blood (WB) and Anti-Hemophiliate Factor (AHF) blood demand was made at PMI Surabaya. Estimation is made because a problem can sometimes be solved by using the previous information or data related to the problem. One estimation method used was Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), an estimation method with a fairly high degree of accuracy. Based on the simulation results, a numerical study was obtained based on the number of iterations, and that with 350 iterations showed a higher accuracy than those with 250 and 150 iterations. The accuracy reached was within the range of 95-98 %.

Blood Components for Pediatric Transfusions.

1. Bulent Ozgonenel, MD* 2. Tammon A. Nash, MD, MS* 3. Madhvi Rajpurkar, MD* 1. *Wayne State University School of Medicine, Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI Blood transfusion plays an important role in the treatment of sick children, just as do pharmaceutical medications, intravenous fluids, and nutritional supplements. Unlike these therapeutic tools, however, blood is not manufactured in a factory but obtained from volunteer donors. Today, donated blood is rarely transfused as whole blood, and individual components are most often transfused to address the specific needs of the recipient. Blood can be obtained first as a whole blood donation with subsequent separation into components via centrifugation, or specific blood components can be directly obtained via apheresis. Blood components undergo leukocyte depletion before storage and further processing, thus arriving at hospital blood banks already leukoreduced, obviating the need to use bedside leukocyte filters. Packed red blood cells (pRBCs), the most commonly transfused blood component, can be obtained directly via apheresis or by centrifugation of whole blood. After leukoreduction, pRBCs can be stored in citrate, phosphate, dextrose, adenine (CPDA) solution to achieve a shelf life of 35 days, or with additive solutions, such as adenine, dextrose, sorbitol, sodium chloride, and mannitol (ADSOL), to achieve a longer shelf life of 42 days. Whereas the hematocrit level of a CPDA unit is 65% to 80%, that of a unit prepared with additive solution is 55% to 65%. This difference in hematocrit value affects the volume calculations for transfusion, as shown in the Table, …

An Evaluation of Donor Deferrals in A Blood Bank of a Tertiary Care Hospital A 3½-Year Study

Background: Blood transfusion is a crucial life-saving procedure that has become an integral component of modern medicine. It is therefore, imperative that the supply chain of blood to blood banks be optimized so as to meet the minimum demand of patients. This goal can be readily achieved by forming a safe reduction policy in the deferral rate of potential donors. The aim of this study was to explore the various causes for donor deferrals and to assess their frequency over the past 3½ years in a blood bank of a tertiary care hospital in Bangalore city. Methods: The data for the current retrospective study was collected over a period of 3 years 6 months from October 2015 to March 2019. Donors were asked to fill in a questionnaire followed by physical examination and blood screening tests. Results: Out of 2942 potential blood donors, only 2781 were accepted while the remaining 161 were deferred, the deferral rate being 5.5%. The age group of the deferred donors ranged from 18 to 49 years old, the highest being between 21-30 years old. There was a total of 119 temporary deferrals and 42 permanent deferrals. The most common cause for temporary and permanent deferral was found to be hypertension and sero-positivity for HBV antigen, respectively. Conclusion: In descending order of frequency, the most common causes for permanent deferrals were transfusion transmitted infection, hepatitis-B, Hepatitis-C and HIV and that for temporary deferrals were hypertension, alcohol consumption and anaemia. By identification of the causes for temporary deferrals, appropriate measures can be put in place to motivate these potential donors to return for blood donation at a later date after the underlying cause has been rectified.

Optimizing O-negative RBC utilization using a data-driven approach.

O-negative red blood cells (ON-RBC) are a precious resource and the international blood banking community has become increasingly concerned with its inappropriate utilization. AABB recently made several recommendations to address the issue. Solutions must be multifaceted and involve donor centers, blood banks, and clinical departments. From the perspective of a hospital blood bank, it is difficult to rely solely on increased donor recruitment and ubiquitous blood typing of the entire in-patient population. We therefore focused on interventions within the blood bank to optimize inventory and policies to ensure appropriate ON-RBC utilization. Transfusion data over one year was examined for the rate of out-of-group/inappropriate ON-RBC. Furthermore, we assessed whether that rate was related to product life on the day of transfusion. We also examined our stock inventory levels and how excess inventory can contribute to inappropriate ON-RBC usage. The ON-RBC inventory level was decreased in order to reduce the rate of inappropriate transfusions while maintaining a safe level for optimal patient care. Compared to baseline, our intervention caused ON-RBCs to be transfused earlier in their shelf-life (9.27 vs. 11.15 days from expiration [DFE], p = 0.0012). This reduced the overall rate of inappropriate ON-RBC transfusions (67% vs. 54%, p = 0.0035), approximating 185 units of ON-RBC saved over the course of 6 months. A data-driven approach to optimize stock inventory levels is widely applicable; it can be adopted by numerous institutions to improve utilization and establish a benchmark for the broader blood banking community.

Fetal inheritance of GP*Mur causing severe HDFN in an unrecognized case of maternal alloimmunization

The clinical and laboratory features of hemolytic disease of the newborn can be challenging to diagnose during pregnancy in the apparent absence of a blood group antibody. Low-frequency antibodies go undetected due to the lack of appropriate antigen-positive reagent red blood cells (RBCs). A pregnant woman of Southeast Asian descent was referred to a maternal-fetal medicine outpatient clinic due to a complicated obstetric history and a negative antibody screen. This initial visit at 29 weeks and 0 days' gestational age (GA) was unremarkable. A hydropic infant, born at 29 weeks and 5 days' GA, succumbed on the seventh day of life. Comprehensive laboratory testing was performed after birth. The hospital blood bank performed a maternal antibody identification. Direct antiglobulin test was performed on the cord blood. A reference laboratory confirmed an anti-Mia , performed paternal Mia phenotyping, and identified a hybrid glycophorin B-A-B GP*Mur allele. Maternal alloimmunization to low-frequency antigens remains a challenge. Southeast Asians make up a significant percentage in some US locations. Worldwide reports on the frequency of maternal alloimmunization of the MNS system can be used to guide the use of specific reagent RBCs for testing. Such strategies rely on the identification of blood donor units for reagent manufacture and use in perinatal antibody screens. The incidence of Mia and related antibodies is significant among Southeast Asians. In North America, prenatal antibody screening cells are not routinely chosen to match this population. The clinical and societal implications are discussed.

Study of Awareness about Blood Donation among Blood Donors in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Background: Various factors determine the donor’s frequency of blood donation like lack of awareness, life style barriers and their present and past experience with blood donation. Aim and Objectives: To study the awareness about blood donation among the blood donors of a tertiary care hospital and to find out the existing information gap. Materials and Methods: This was a cross sectional study conducted in the blood bank of a tertiary care hospital in which the blood donors, after obtaining informed consent, were administered a questionnaire to assess their awareness about blood donation. The collected data was entered in an excel sheet and it was analyzed. Result: Out of the 100 blood donors included in the study, majority of them were in the age group 21-30 years. Most (94%) of the donors were aware of their blood group and had the knowledge that they can continue their routine work after blood donation (92%). However, only (52%) were aware of the rejection criteria and only (59%) had awareness about age criteria for blood donation and required weight and hemoglobin for blood donation. (67%) of the donors had awareness about blood donation from the media and friends, while others gained it from their previous blood donation experience. Conclusion: Training programs for health professionals and awareness programs in mass media can spread the knowledge of blood donation among the community especially in the younger generation and improve their attitude and sustain their practice of regular blood donor. How to cite this article:Vimal M, Bhuvana J, Nishanthi A. Study of Awareness about Blood Donation among Blood Donors in a Tertiary Care Hospital. Rec Adv Path Lab Med 2019; 5(4): 13-16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/2454.8642.201921

Serological screening of West Nile virus among blood donors in northern Cyprus.

West Nile virus (WNV) is a neurotropic arbovirus that can also be transmitted through blood transfusion. Even though its geographic distribution has been expanding, there has not yet been any epidemiological data on WNV in northern Cyprus. The aim of our study is to fill this gap by using donated blood samples. Samples collected from the main government hospital blood bank in Nicosia were analyzed by anti-WNV enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (immunoglobulin M [IgM] and immunoglobulin G [IgG]). Seropositive samples were subjected to plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) for confirmation and analyzed by ELISA IgG avidity test and reverse transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR). Of the 760 sera samples, 2 (0.3%) were IgM+ and 31 (4.1%) were IgG+. Neutralization activity was detected in none (0.0%) of the IgM+ and 26 (83.9%) of IgG+ donor specimens. ELISA IgG avidity test reported high avidity in 21 (67.7%) and low avidity in one (3.2%) IgG+ sample. PRNT-confirmed anti-WNV IgG+ samples exhibited only borderline (19.2%) or high avidity (80.8%) values. rRT-PCR results were negative for both IgM+ and IgG+ samples. Anti-WNV antibodies were detected in northern Cyprus among blood donors. The establishment of preventive measures and evaluation of the geographic extent of the WNV in northern Cyprus are highly recommended.

Phenotype Frequencies of Major Blood Group Systems (Rh, Kell, Kidd, Duffy, MNS, P, Lewis, and Lutheran) Among Blood Donors in the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia.

IntroductionThe understanding of blood group phenotypes in Saudi Arabia is limited to the ABO and Rh blood groups. Data for the other major blood group phenotypes in different populations have been widely studied and used as a reference for identifying antigen-negative blood in hospital blood banks. Such information is crucial for facilitating the challenging task of providing antigen-negative blood for patients with multiple antibodies.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to determine the frequency of the major blood group phenotypes in the Eastern region of Saudi Arabia and compare them to phenotypes in other populations.MethodsA total of 100 volunteer Saudi donors were included in this study. Red blood cells from the donors were subjected to antigen typing of the major blood group systems (Rh, Kell, Kidd, Duffy, MNS, Lewis, Lutheran, and P) using the gel microtube technique.ResultsFrom the Rh blood group system, the e antigen was found in 97% of donors, followed by c at 86%. The Cellano (k) antigen of the Kell system was found in all donors, whereas the Kell (K) antigen was only found in 8 % of donors. The K+k- phenotype was not detected in our study. Unexpectedly, for the Duffy blood group system, the null phenotype Fy(a-b-) was found in 61% of donors. In the MNS blood group system, M+N-S+s+ was the most common phenotype at 24%.ConclusionThe frequency of blood group phenotypes in the Eastern region of Saudi Arabia differs from that in other populations because of the diverse ethnic backgrounds of those living in that region. The findings of this study can be used to establish a local donor registry to help provide antigen-negative blood for patients with unexpected antibodies or to create an in-house antibody identification panel to add to the commercial panel that would be useful for confirming antibody identification results.

Sero-prevalence ABO and Rh blood groups and their associated Transfusion-Transmissible Infections among Blood Donors in the Central Region of Saudi Arabia

BackgroundScreening of blood products is considered a mandatory protocol implemented in health care facilities in order to reduce the onset of transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs). This study was aimed to determine the sero-prevalence of ABO and Rh blood groups and their associated TTIs among blood donors in the Central Region of Saudi Arabia. MethodsThis was retrospective study performed on the blood donors’ records from March 2017 to December 2018 at Buraidah Central Hospital Blood Bank. Study was conducted on a total of 4590 blood donors. ABO and Rh typing was performed.The blood samples were also screened serologically for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), anti-hepatitis B core total antibodies (anti-HBc total), hepatitis C virus (HCV), human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV), human T-lymphotrophic virus-1 (HTLV-1) and veneral disease research laboratory test(VDRL) for syphilis. ResultsOut of 4590 blood donors, O positive blood group was found to be highest (42%), followed by A positive (23.4%), B positive (20.9%), O negative (5.45%), AB positive (3.4%), A negative (2.8%), B negative (2.1%) and AB negative (0.5%). Moreover, total number of Rh-negative donors was significantly lowered as compared with Rh-positive. Seroreactive tests were found to be positive in only 1.002% of all studied donors and mainly found in male donors. Among TTI, anti-HBc total was the highest (0.784%), followed by HBsAg, HCV, VDRL and TPHA. Whereas all tested donors were found to be negative for HIV infections. ConclusionsThe information collected for the frequency of ABO blood phenotypic groups has a vital significance in establishing a simple blood group database. This study clearly determined significantly lower rate of seropositive TTIs among the studied blood donors but still steps are needed to improve the knowledge and to prevent the seropositive occurrence of TTIs.