Onoja AM, Orkuma JA, Nwannadi AI, Ejele AO, Egesie OJ, Onoja TA, Alao and Ibrahim IN
Background: Despite current efforts and availability of advanced technology such as nucleic acid amplification testing and Immunoassays, the risk of Transfusion Transmissible viral Infections (TTVIs) continues to exist. In low resource economies, where periodic large scale serosurveillance is impracticable; the use of donor seroprevalence to monitor the trends of epidemiologically significant TTVIs in adult population becomes imperative. This study therefore aimed to determine blood donor profile and seroepidemiology of HIV, HBV and HCV infection status in Jos North-Central Nigeria.
Methods: In this cross sectional study, 510 prospective blood donors were recruited as they presented for donation at the National Blood Transfusion Service centre and Plateau Specialist Hospital Jos. Their blood samples were tested for HbsAg, anti-HCV, and HIV, using a third generation ELISA, by Bio-Rad. Data analyzed with SPSS version 20, associations between categorical variables tested using Chi-square (χ2) test and P<0.05 was considered significant.
Results: There were 510 respondents, aged 18 to 65 years. Mean age±SD was 30.20±9.10. The overall prevalence of TTVIs was 15.5% which was significantly lower than the 22.1% found in an earlier study. The prevalence of HBV, HIV and HCV were 7.5%. 3.1% and 2.7% respectively, while co infections with HIV/HBV, HIV/HCV and HBV/HCV were 1.6%; 0.2%; and 0.4% respectively. Infection prevalence was observed to be significantly lower in donors with tertiary education.
Conclusion: There was a decline in the prevalence of TTVIs in Jos, North-central Nigeria, and there was a significant association between educational level and blood donation (P<0.05). We recommend a need to sustain the present policies and efforts, donor education and implementation of stringent donor eligibility criteria to further minimize the risk.
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Journal of Blood & Lymph received 443 citations as per Google Scholar report
