Assessment of prevalence of sexually transmissible infections among voluntary blood donors and its comparison with replacement donors at Hassan Institute of Medical Science, Hassan, Karnataka, India

ABSTRACT

Background: Hepatitis B virus, Hepatitis C virus and Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are important STDs which can be transmissible to the recipients of blood transfusion. The aim of the present study is to study the seroprevalence of HIV, HBV and HCV infection in the blood among voluntary and replacement donors in HIMS Hassan during 2010 to 2012.Methods: A retrospective study was conducted at blood bank of HIMS, Hassan for the years 2010 to 2012. The donors with Hemoglobin>12gm% for both sexes, weight >50 kg, no history of chronic illness, hepatitis, high risk behaviours were included in the study. All the blood samples collected were screened for HIV, HBV and HCV using ELISA kits. All the blood samples were sent to NACO (national AIDS control organization) and subjected to NAT (nucleic acid test) for detection of antigens. Results compared for both voluntary and replacement donors.Results: Total of 10938 blood donors screened. Majority of the donors were males 95.8% (10484) and belonged to voluntary group 72.8% (7971). The total prevalence of STDS were 0.61% (67). The prevalence of HBV, HCV and HIV was 0.47% (51), 0.04% (4) and 0.11% (12) respectively. Prevalence of STDs was higher among voluntary donors 0.57% (62) compared to replacement donors 0.05 % (5). Statistically significant difference was observed in HBV prevalence in voluntary and replacement donors.Conclusions: Most common STDs in blood donors was HBV followed by HIV and HCV. STDs were mainly seen in voluntary donors compared to replacement donors. Majority of the donors were males.