Frequency of hepatitis B and hepatitis C in healthy blood donors of NWFP: a single center experience

ABSTRACT

To determine the frequency of hepatitis B and hepatitis C in asymptomatic healthy blood donors. Material and A prospective study was conducted in the department of Pathology, Rehman Medical Institute, Peshawar from April 2002 to March 2003. A total of 4000 healthy blood donors were selected. Blood samples were collected for screening of HBs Ag and anti HCV antibodies using IMX or Axsym, MEIA technology [Abbott, USA]. Even after strict selection of healthy donors 1.9% were found to be reactive for hepatitis B and 2.2% were found to be reactive for hepatitis C. The rate of incidence of hepatitis C was higher in blood group B negative [6.81%] while the rate of incidence of hepatitis B was higher in donors with blood group B positive [2.47%]. Screened blood bags received from other transfusion centers showed higher rates [4.27%] of hepatitis viral infections. These indicate that most of the patients suffering from hepatitis B and hepatitis C do not realize that they have got such deadly viruses in their body and can transmit it to non-infected healthy individuals via different parenteral routes including blood transfusion. The rate of infection of hepatitis B and C found in this study is low compared to other regional studies. One possible explanation could be the introduction of pre-donation filtration by questionnaire method which has been found to be an effective tool in addition to routine virological screening using high quality standard methods: