ABSTRACT
PIP: The archives of the blood bank of the hospital of Dr. Louis Manual Morillo King, in the city of La Vega, Dominican Republic, were reviewed to identify all children who had been given blood transfusion during the period of July 1983 to July 1987 in order to identify HIV and the surface antigen of hepatitis B (HBsAg). Those who were released were visited in their homes for administration of HIV and hepatitis tests. Positive tests were confirmed by another test (AUSYME MONOCLONAL and Western Blot). Mothers were also tested to detect vertical transmission. 256 patients had been transfused, of whom 61 died. 80 of the 195 remaining patients could not be located. Of the 115 patients located, 52 had died in their homes after release from the hospital. Thus, the sample comprised 63 patients: 36 were 0-3 years old, 21 were 4-7 years old, and 6 were 8-11 years old. 50 lived in rural and 13 in urban areas. 56 patients had one transfusion and 4 had two transfusions. 28 patients had transfusion for anemia, 19 for malnutrition, 7 for sepsis, 6 for various reasons (meningitis, pleuritis, pneumonia), and 3 for sickle cell disease. 47 patients had been transfused at the hospital using the blood bank, 13 used blood from relatives, and 3 received blood from friends. Out of the 63 samples processed, 2 patients presented seropositivity for hepatitis B, while none were seropositive for HIV. Among the 2 patients who were seropositive for hepatitis B, the mother of one of them was also seropositive.^ieng
