Frequency of TTIs in Apparently Healthy Blood Donors in Sialkot District, A Small District of Punjab-Pakistan with Big Reservoir of TTIs

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of hepatitis C virus (HCV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), syphilis, and malarial parasite (MP) in district blood banks of Sialkot; and to compare it with national and international data.

Methodology: This Descriptive study was conducted between January 2013 to September 2019 at Allama Iqbal Memorial Teaching Hospital (AIMTH), Sialkot, Government Sardar Begum Hospital (GSBH), Sialkot and District Headquarter (DHQ) Hospital, Daska. All donors were between 18-60 years of age, weighed above 50 kgs and their Hemoglobin was above 12g/dl. Donors with physical disabilities and/or having co- morbid conditions were excluded from the study.

Results: In a span of 7 years a total of 84,305 blood donations were acquired collectively in all the three hospitals. In AIMTH, 54,630 donations were made, among which HCV positive cases were 1.70% (n=926), HBV positive cases were 1.25% (n=682), HIV positive were 0.01% (n=6), syphilis positive were 0.75% (n=408) and MP positive cases were only 0.01% (n=4). In GSBH, a total of 14,402 donations were made. Among them HCV positive were 1.25% (n=180), HBV positive were 0.80% (n=115), HIV positive were 0.02% (n=3), syphilis positive cases were equal to 0.35% (n=50), while MP positive 0.01% (n=1). In DHQ Hospital-Daska, total number of donations was 15,273, among which HCV positive were 1.16% (n=177), HBV positive were 0.88% (n=134), HIV positive cases were reported to be 0.01% (n=1), syphilis positive 0.59% (n=90) and MP positive were 0.03% (n=5). Collectively, among the total 84,305 donations made in all three hospitals, HCV positive were 1.52% (n=1283), HBV positive were 1.10% (n=931), HIV positive were 0.01% (n=10), syphilis was found positive in 0.65% (n=548) and MP positive were 0.01% (n=10).

Conclusion: The incidence of TTIs transmission can be decreased by improving donor screening techniques. Better techniques will also filter-out more potentially hazardous donors by which improvement in transfusion service quality can be achieved.