Hepatitis-B carriers; prevalence of HBsAg among volunteer blood donors in Bahawalpur division

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To find out the prevalence of HBsAg among volunteer blood donors in Bahawalpur Division. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: Blood banks of district and tehsil headquarters hospitals of Bahawalpur Division. PERIOD January to December 1996. SUBJECT AND METHODS: All volunteer blood donors of either sex in whom HBsAg could be done. Test done by rapid latex agglutination method. Out of 15243 blood donors tested, 169 [1.11%] were positive for HBsAg with the highest prevalence in blood donors from Bahawalpur District. CONCLUSIONS: It is not enough to use old methods for screening of Hepatitis B markers because with newer sensitive methods, even negative cases for HBsAg may be detected as positive. In future, there is need for the availability of tests for hepatitis C and G in blood banks of Pakistan