TRENDS IN SEROPREVALENCE OF TRANFUSION TRANSMISSIBLE INFECTIONS AMONG BLOOD DONORS IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL OF MAHARASHTRA: A NINE YEARS STUDY

Volume : VII, Issue : VI, June - 2018

Parmeshwar Satpathy, Sunil Kumar Panigrahi, Ranjit Mankeshwar, Lanjewar Dhaneshwar Nemdeorao

INTRODUCTION: Blood not only saves life but is also a source of transmission of many diseases if proper screening of donated blood is not

done. It is mandatory to screen five transfusion transmissible infections such as HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Syphilis and Malaria in every

donated blood unit. Prevalence of these infections among blood donors is important for evaluating blood safety and potential risks to the population

and it can serve as a reflection of prevalence of these infections in the community, as blood donors are very much a part of it.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES AIM: To study trends in seroprevalence of transfusion transmissible infections among voluntary blood donors

STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective review of donor record over a period of 9 years from January 2007 to December 2015 was carried out in the

blood bank of a tertiary care hospital in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

METHODOLOGY: A total of 53,605 healthy donors were screened for HIV, HBV, HCV, Syphilis and Malaria. Screening was done by ELISA for

HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C; Syphilis was screened by VDRL test, Malaria by rapid immunochromatography/smear examination. The

positive data included only the result of screening tests.

RESULTS: Among 53,605 donors screened, 2128 (3.96 %) were positive for the TTI. The overall prevalence of HIV, HBV, HCV, Syphilis and

Malaria among the blood donors in the present study was 0.71 %, 2.11 %, 1.04 %, 0.07 % and 0.04 % respectively.

CONCLUSION: The study exhibits that most of the donors were voluntary with male preponderance.The prevalence of transfusion transmissible

infections is low but result throws some insight into the prevalence of hepatitis B & hepatitis C in community keeping the fact in mind that there is

no proper surveillance of these diseases in India. Continuous improvement and implementation of strict donor selection criteria, sensitive

screening tests and establishment of strict guidelines for blood transfusion can go a long way in reducing the risk of acquiring transfusion

transmissible infections.